A CRIMINAL prosecution could be brought over a school coach crash on Exmoor last year in which a 10-year-old pupil died.

An investigation has been continuing for the past 11 months into the cause of the crash on the A396 Cutcombe Hill between Wheddon Cross and Timberscombe.

Now, police have revealed they have passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to decide if charges should be brought against anybody.

Oliver Price suffered a head injury and was found dead on the coach still strapped into his seat on July 17 last year.

Twenty-one other children and adults were injured, with some flown by air ambulances to intensive care hospital units in Bristol.

The coach was returning from taking Minehead Middle School pupils and staff on an end of academic year outing to Exmoor Zoo.

No other vehicle was involved when the coach came off the road on a bend and fell 20 feet down a wooded embankment, triggering a major incident which saw a multi-emergency services response.

An Avon and Somerset Constabulary spokesperson told the BBC: “A file was submitted to the CPS earlier this year to consider a charging decision as part of our investigation.

“The family of Oliver Price, and the other affected families, have been updated, and further lines of inquiry are being actively pursued in line with guidance from the CPS.”

Structural damage to the road was caused by the crash which required three weeks of major engineering works to repair.

The repairs were only carried out by Somerset Council in February of this year.