A SUFFOLK coach driver is due to appear in court next month over a crash last Christmas Eve which left 19 people needing hospital treatment.

Nearly 50 passengers were travelling on the Mendlesham-based Galloway Travel coach when it overturned around 3.40pm on the A140 Cromer Road at Horsham St Faith, near Norwich International Airport.

Many of those on board were from Suffolk.

It is understood the vehicle's driver, Gerald Calvin, has been summonsed to appear before Norwich Magistrates Court.

A hearing has been scheduled for July 6, when Mr Calvin will be formally charged with driving without due care and attention.

Of those needing hospital treatment following the crash, eight people were reported to have sustained serious injuries. However, police said at the time that none of them were life-threatening.

The injured were treated at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

The social club at Horsham St Faith was opened to provide support for the non-injured passengers.

The road was closed throughout the remainder of the day as the coach was recovered and an investigation began.

The single-decker bus was on its way to the Holiday Inn in Ipswich Road, Norwich, where the coach tour passengers were booked in for five nights as part of a Christmas break.

Police said there were 48 passengers and the driver on the bus when the accident occurred.

The passengers, who were from Suffolk, came from across the county including from the Bury St Edmunds area, Felixstowe and Ipswich area. Many were aged 60 or above.