A COLLISION between a bus and a car on a busy York street created a two-hour snarl-up for motorists in the city centre.

Two car passengers were taken to York Hospital following the accident, which happened in Queen Street, near York Railway Station, at about 11.40am yesterday.

Long traffic delays followed, as police closed Queen Street and Station Road in both directions from the junction between Station Road and Station Rise at one end, and from the junction between Queen Street and Nunnery Lane at the other end.

The incident happened at a bend in the road and involved a head-on collision between a green Peugeot 206 and a First bus, which was travelling on the service number three route between Askham Bar Park&Ride and York city centre.

Richard Eames, managing director of First York, said: “A Peugeot 206 coming from the opposite direction collided with the front offside of our vehicle.

“There were about nine passengers on the bus at the time, but nobody on board received any injuries. They all walked away from the scene.

“It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on the circumstances of the collision, but we are cooperating with the police and there will be an internal investigation.

“The driver was badly shaken by what happened and took the rest of the shift off.”

He said the road closure caused major disruption to First’s other bus services operating in the city.

Long queues of stationary traffic formed in Nunnery Lane, Blossom Street and other roads near the railway station.

Mr Eames said: “Queen Street is a major interchange served by a good number of services and the road was closed for at least two hours. There was significant disruption.”

Police reopened Queen Street and Station Road shortly before 1pm.

A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service said they took two patients to hospital with neck injuries and treated a third patient at the scene for minor injuries.