A coach driver died when his vehicle ploughed into a block of flats, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Terrified schoolchildren ran for their lives as the single-decker wrecked lamp posts, demolished garden walls, wrote off a parked car and slammed into homes.

A paper boy standing outside the two-storey flats escaped death by inches as the coach veered across the road and through a flint wall.

Neighbours rushed to the wreckage-strewn scene and found a man lying dead under the empty 53-seat vehicle.

Police called in tracker dogs and a helicopter to hunt for the driver, who officers suspect had been drinking, but the search was called off as it became clear he was the victim.

Alan Joseph, 37, was in the upper of two flats which bore the brunt of the impact at 1.50pm yesterday, yards from St Andrew's Church in Church Road, West Tarring, Worthing.

He said: "It was like an explosion. The ceiling started shaking, plaster came off and the side wall started coming in. I thought the whole place was going to fall down.

"Half the coach's cab was inside the house.

"I rushed downstairs and there was somebody searching the coach to make sure nobody was injured.

"They found somebody lying outside. It looks like he might have jumped out and fallen under the coach.

"The whole side of the building will have to be replaced. It's a total write-off."

Next-door neighbour John Fenton, 44, said: "I climbed inside the coach to try to find the driver.

"There was nobody on board so I came back out and found some poor chap actually wedged under the coach.

"I checked for a pulse but couldn't find one.

"There was a young lad delivering papers at the time and I thought it might be him because his trolley was all smashed up with papers everywhere."

Mr Fenton feared Annalee Shallis, 23, and her four-year-old son Kai were trapped in the downstairs flat, which was virtually destroyed in the crash.

He called out their names but got no answer and alerted police officers, who carried out a search despite the danger of the building collapsing.

Fortunately, Annalee was at a hair salon, having picked up her son from playgroup.

Visibly shaking after being taken to the scene by police, she said: "It has hit my son's bedroom and my living room. I thought it was a joke at first.

"I would normally have been in there."

Minutes before the smash the vehicle, belonging to Crawley Luxury Coaches, had demolished a lamp post while screeching around the corner from The Boulevard into Terringes Avenue.

Two schoolgirls fled in terror as the vehicle crashed through the garden wall of a house, wrecked a Volkswagen Polo in the drive and struck the house, dislodging tiles above the front door.

Neighbours rushed out and screamed at the driver to stop but he reversed out of the garden, having torn off the coach's rear exit door, and continued for another half-mile along Terringes Avenue before smashing into the flats.

Pensioners Patrick and Gillian Preston, who live at the house hit by the coach, were having lunch when they heard a huge bang.

Mrs Preston said: "When it hit it was like an explosion. I was horrified.

"By the time I looked out of the window the driver was trying to reverse, with difficulty. He appeared to be swaying.

"He was reversing over what was left of the wall and was having a hard time trying.

"There was a lot of smoke because he could not clear the wall.

"My husband was about to go out to him because we saw he was driving off but I told him not to get involved."

Mr Preston said: "I did not notice what he had done to the car until he had gone.

"We are keen gardeners and could have easily been out there. We are lucky to have been indoors."

The coach had earlier been seen driving erratically along the A27 before turning into Worthing.

Three crews from Worthing fire station and two from Lancing helped free the victim's body from beneath the vehicle.

Two heavy rescue units were sent, one each from Worthing and Lancing fire stations.

The body was removed at 6pm and the coach was taken away.

Building control officials made sure the damaged house was not in danger of collapse.

Leading Firefighter Graeme Smith, of Worthing fire station, said: "There was quite a lot of damage and we had to make sure the area was safe for everyone."

Parents arriving to pick up their children from Thomas A'Becket First School in Bellview Road found surrounding streets sealed off by police and feared pupils might have been involved.

The school put up a sign on the gates stating: "The coach involved in the crash is nothing to do with our school trips."

Crawley Luxury Coaches, based in Stephenson Way, Crawley, declined to comment.

Worthing Homes sent an official to organise emergency accommodation for people made homeless by the crash.