A Bee Network bus has been severely damaged following a crash on Sunday morning.

A V1 bus and a taxi crashed at the junction of Princess Street and Lord Street South at 10.59am, with a road closure in place until 2pm.

Transport for Greater Manchester confirmed that passengers were on board the service at the time of the crash, with no injuries reported.

Photographs from the scene, taken at around 1pm, show the yellow double-decker Bee Network bus with a smashed windscreen.

The V1 bus, which appears to have identification number 3042, can be seen stopped on Princess Street near Lord Street South, travelling away from Leigh Bus Station to what is thought to be the Leigh Guided Busway.

A police car can be seen stopped behind the bus, which appears to have at least one person still sat on the upper deck.

A Transport for Greater Manchester spokesperson said: “At 10:59am on Sunday, there was a road traffic collision between a taxi and V1 Bee Network bus at the junction Lord Street South and Princess Street junction in Leigh.

“Passengers were on board the service, but no injuries were reported at the time of the incident.

“The road remained closed until 2pm until both vehicles had been recovered.”

The incident comes just hours ahead of the launch of a new 24/7 night bus service from Leigh and Bolton to Manchester on the V1 and 36 services.

A police car can be seen behind the bus, which was stopped on Princess Street in LeighA police car can be seen behind the bus, which was stopped on Princess Street in Leigh (Image: Newsquest)

The new service will see hourly buses in each direction between Manchester city centre and the two towns for a year-long trial period.

The first such bus will be the 11.45pm 36 service from Bolton Interchange towards Manchester city centre.

In Leigh, the V1 will run an hourly service from Leigh Bus station starting at 11pm, with buses at midnight, 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am, and 5am. A more frequent service then resumes at 5.30am.

The V1 and 36 night buses mean some 135,000 residents are now within a five-minute walk to a night bus stop, Transport for Greater Manchester says – with more night bus routes planned.

The Leigh Guided Busway launched in 2016.

Running between Leigh and Ellenbrook, buses are guided via a guide wheel which steers the vehicles using a kerb.

The route used to be operated by First prior to the launch of the Bee Network in Wigan and Bolton.

Now, Go North West and Diamond operate all services in the two Greater Manchester boroughs.

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