A FATHER whose BMW crashed after striking a bus head-on allegedly grabbed his child passengers and abandoned the vehicle.

The BMW hit the westbound 597 Diamond Buses minibus service in Manchester Road, Astley, outside St Mary's Catholic High School at 11am.

The force of the collision deflected the bus off the carriageway and it mounted the pavement and came to rest after striking a wall.

Having rebounded off the bus, the BMW crashed into a BT exchange cabinet and lamp post about 50 or 60 metres further down the road, ending up perpendicular to Manchester Road.

Witnesses said a man got out of the driver's seat, lifted two children out of the car and ran off with them under his arms.

Mark Anderson, crew manager at Leigh Fire Station, said: "There were about a dozen passengers on the bus at the time.

"The bus driver was injured and one passenger was injured.

"The bus was wrecked. It had taken a significant blow.

"The front axles were broken and the bus driver was unable to steer.

"There were no pedestrians on the pavement or else it could have been so much worse."

Mr Anderson said firefighters had to search the immediate area for the missing motorist and the children because it was feared the adult or the youngsters had suffer an injury.

However, they were nowhere to be found.

One fire crew each from Leigh and Atherton made the vehicles and street furniture safe before creating a stable platform for the paramedics to attend to the casualties.

GMP are investigating the crash.