Eleven city passengers were taken to hospital yesterday after being cut free from a bus which smashed into a tree on one of Birmingham's busiest roads.

A further six people were treated as " walking wounded" after the singledecker number 45 bus from West Heath to the city centre crashed into the Pershore Road tree.

The collision happened near the junction with Speedwell Road, in Edgbaston, next to the Edgbaston Dental centre at 10.06am.

Eight passengers were removed from the wreckage, four on spinal boards, and taken to City and Selly Oak hospitals, a West Midlands Ambulance spokesman said.

The front of the bus had caved in and glass was scattered across the road. Parts of Pershore Road and Bristol Road were blocked off and traffic queued back to Birmingham Central Mosque.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said that none of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening.

In another incident, families watched in horror as a bus and a lorry collided on a busy city street, sending the bus crashing into a house at the junction of Reddings Lane and Shaftmoor Lane, Hall Green, on Tuesday afternoon.

The bus careered into scaffolding on the house - snapping metal poles in two. Four passengers needed treatment for minor injuries.

Tony Deykin was at his home in Reddings Lane when he witnessed the smash.

"I was just about to take the rubbish out when I heard this almighty bang and rushed out of the house to see what had happened," said Mr Deykin, aged 45.

" The bus had been pushed into the scaffolding bending and snapping poles.

"The driver of the lorry had cut hands and the driver of the bus looked shook up. There were some passengers and they were helped by the emergency services."