In a separate accident just over an hour later, a 40 vehicle pile-up

Half term horror on Britain's roads: Four more die in crashes on Sunday taking total to twelve in three days since holiday began Two killed in crash today on A511 near Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire Two women died in another crash on the A11 near Attleborough, Norfolk Four died yesterday after crashes on the M40 at Bicester and M1 Another two men died on Friday night in Featherstone, Yorkshire The three men killed on M1 on their way to Buckinghamshire from London One was named locally as 23-year-old Nathan Reeves Driver of coach involved in crash was arrested and released on bail Man killed on M40 was a 65-year-old from Woking, Surrey

Twelve people were killed in an horrific spate of crashes this weekend as families hit the roads for the half-term holidays.

Three men died when a double-decker coach carrying cheerleaders from Kent University collided with a broken down car on the hard shoulder on Saturday morning.

The cheerleaders – who said they were ‘lucky to be alive’ - were travelling on the M1 to an event in Birmingham when the bus collided with the Audi A3 near Flitwick, Bedfordshire.

In a separate accident just over an hour later, a 40 vehicle pile-up in thick fog on the M40 in Oxfordshire left one man dead and nearly 50 injured, and another person fighting for their life. The crashes, closing two of the main motorways for traffic heading north from London, caused chaos for thousands of half-term holidaymakers on Saturday