A pile-up which brought gridlock to roads has spurred calls for the Government to reconsider its "crazy decision" to bin a series of bypasses.

Three disabled people and a bus driver needed hospital treatment after a bus collided with a car and two Scope minibuses before careering through a garden wall into two parked cars.

The wreckage blocked the A27 Arundel Road, between Offington Roundabout and its junction with Durrington Hill, for more than three hours yesterday, causing havoc for motorists.

It happened just days after Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced multi-million-pound plans to tackle traffic along the troublesome route would not go ahead.

Government advisers, in the South Coast Multi-Modal Study, proposed an Arundel bypass and road tunnels beneath traffic hot spots in Worthing and Lancing as part of the package.

MP for Shoreham and East Worthing Tim Loughton said yesterday's tailbacks were a reminder of the urgent need for action.

He said: "What further evidence does the Government need about the fragile state of congestion on the A27?

"It takes one small accident or blockage and the whole network is jammed for hours.

"Most residents have to put up with solid congestion on a daily basis, even without an accident. The Government should reconsider its crazy decision last week when it gave up on any solution whatsoever."

MP for Worthing West Peter Bottomley said the Government's rejection of A27 road improvements meant it should be held responsible for any crashes on the route.

He said: "In 1997, the Government should have made the A27 on the South Coast, especially in Worthing and running through to Arundel, a priority.

"They have not and, what's more, six years later, after admitting their road policy was wrong, they have still not put the A27 at Worthing back into the programme.

"They are responsible for the injuries, congestion, pollution and for any deaths which would have been avoided if it was a safer, pleasant road which reduces the impact of through-traffic in Worthing.

"This road is dangerous and unpleasant and the Government is responsible. It's unacceptable.

"The Transport Secretary should come down and see what happened and should meet the bus driver and the motorists."

Fire brigade sub-officer Clive Innocent said the single-decker bus, which had no passengers, had been turning right from Cotswold Road on to the A27 when the accident occurred at 11.30am.

The 23 disabled people in the two Scope minibuses were on their way to a birthday party in Brighton.

Scope volunteer Peter Rider, from Rustington, was a passenger.

He said: "It was incredible, it was unbelievable that there were not more hurt.

"One of our members was crying in the front. She had obviously been hurt and I went to console her. Then everyone started coming round and we tried to make sure everybody was okay. The girl had cut her head."

West Sussex Scope manager John Watson said two male disabled patients, aged 28 and 24, had been released from Worthing Hospital after being treated for shock.

The 26-year-old woman whose head was cut was kept in for observation.

Other Scope members, aged between 18 and 45, were taken to nearby Swandean Hospital to rest.

Beverley Touile was in her kitchen when she saw the bus on its way through her garden wall and into the family Vauxhall Frontera and her son's Vauxhall Calibra.

She said: "I thought it was a skip being emptied and I saw the car moving and bits flying. I thought the bus was coming into the kitchen."

Her husband Graham said: "It was lucky the cars were there or it would have gone into the house where my wife was. We can replace a car but we cannot replace a life."

Stagecoach spokesman Steve Stewart said police and the company would inspect the bus for faults.