Police have begun interviewing passengers who survived a horrific coach crash which claimed the life of a migrant worker from Poland.

Staffordshire Police said the process of questioning survivors of Monday’s accident, which happened in driving rain near the Alton Towers theme park, was likely to take several weeks to complete.

Three people, the 63-year-old driver of the vehicle and two women aged 21, remain in a critical condition, while four other victims are also still detained at various hospitals in the West Midlands and Staffordshire.

The badly-damaged coach, which ended up on its side after striking two parked vehicles and crashing into a garden 15ft below the road, was removed from the scene on Tuesday night.

A total of 71 people were on board the coach, which was carrying a party of foreign farm workers back to the Cambridgeshire area when it crashed near a bridge in the village of Alton near the Alton Towers theme park.

Chief Inspector John Maddox, of Staffordshire Police, said: “A specialist police team is carrying out searches at the scene today to recover any further evidence and items of personal property, which will be returned to passengers from the coach.

“A detailed police investigation is now under way and it is vital that any witnesses who have not yet come forward contact us as soon as possible.”