A PENSIONER who died after his car ploughed into a school bus full of students and teacher may have been trying to light a cigarette at the time, an inquest has heard.

Jarvis John Condon, 72, who veered across the road into the path of the oncoming bus on the A39 Cannington by-pass, had only gone for a drive to relieve his boredom.

The bus driver, John Pople, in a statement read to the hearing, said he was returning from taking 64 students and staff from Bridgwater Academy on a trip to the Quantock Hills.

Mr Pople said he was slowing down as he approached a roundabout when a silver Mercedes drove “extremely quickly” into the front of his vehicle.

Other drivers who witnessed the accident confirmed Mr Pople’s account.

No students or teachers were injured in the incident.

Mr Condon’s widow, Maureen, said: “He was a careful driver who knew the A39 very well.

“He’d been feeling well prior to the accident.

“At 11.30am he said he was bored and was driving into Bridgwater for something to do.”

Police accident investigators, who said there were no defects with either vehicle involved in the crash, later found an unlit cigarette in the foot-well of the Mercedes.

Acting senior Coroner for West Somerset Tony Williams said Mr Condon, of Castle Street, Nether Stowey, was possibly trying to light the cigarette before the crash at around 2.30pm on May 15, although the reason he lost control will never be known.

Mr Williams said Mr Condon, a retired laboratory worker, who had heart problems and emphysema, died from traumatic injuries and recorded a conclusion that his death was due to a road traffic collision.