A BUS with 25 people on board was destroyed when it caught fire on the M5 last night.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service were called at 7.54pm by a passing HGV driver who had spotted the flaming vehicle near Michaelwood Services.

It was pulled over in the hardshoulder of the M5 northbound between junctions 14 and 13.

A fire engine from Wotton-under-Edge fire station and another from Stroud fire station attended the incident.

Two further vehicles from Thornbury fire station were sent to help tackle the blaze, meaning a total of 23 firefighters were on the scene.

No one was injured, as the bus driver had safely evacuated all 24 passengers from the bus before it became well alight, but the flames left the coach destroyed.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Darren Bane said everyone on the coach had been accounted for but the fire had caused disruption on the motorway.

Gloucestershire Police and the Highways Agency had closed the stretch of motorway until the incident had been cleared.

Watch Commander Dave Woodward from Stroud fire station confirmed that they had used two jets and four breathing apparatus to bring the blaze under control.

The fire was eventually extinguished at 8.52pm.

The cause of the fire was an electrical fault in the engine department of the coach.