A homeowner was woken with a start when a bus crashed into his living room.

Eric Swatton, 60, was in bed when he heard a loud bang early yesterday.

He rushed to the window of his terraced house in Cuckfield Close, Bewbush, Crawley, to see the back of the bus sticking out into his garden.

The part-time Dial-a-Ride worker said: "There was dust everywhere. I tried to call the emergency services but the phone was out so I threw on some clothes and got out of the house as quickly as possible in case the whole place collapsed."

Four bus passengers suffered minor injuries in the crash, which happened at 7.40am.

The driver was taken to hospital for treatment.

Mr Swatton, whose 57-year-old wife, Linda, was away at the time of the crash, said: "I haven't got a scratch. If I had been down in the lounge I probably wouldn't be here now. I thank my lucky stars I'm alive. Someone is looking after me."

Two fire engines and a heavy rescue vehicle attended the crash and neighbours were evacuated from six houses in Hassocks Court as firefighters made safe a diesel leak caused by a rupture in the bus's fuel tank and pipes.

Sussex Ambulance clinical team leader and paramedic Mike Bent and his crew-mate, ambulance technician Nicki Wyatt, were at the scene within four minutes.

Mr Bent said: "Given the damage sustained by the bus and the house, this could have been far more serious.

"All of those involved, including the inhabitants of the house, were lucky to escape serious injury.

"If this had been a week-day morning, it could have been a very different scenario."

Leigh Marchant, 21, who lives next door, said he heard "a big boom like the sound of a bomb" and ran outside to help passengers off the bus.

As the news of the crash spread, dozens of people gathered outside the house to see the damage for themselves.

Three houses were later declared safe to return to but the Swattons' home and their neighbours on each side were ruled out of bounds by structural engineers.

West Sussex Fire Service said the house would have to be demolished once the bus was removed.

Mr Swatton, who has lived in the property for the past 17 years, said: "If it has to be knocked down then we will rebuild it.

"The personal stuff is the biggest loss but fortunately it's only possessions and not someone's life."

It is not known what caused the bus, a No 10 single-decker Metrobus Fastway service, to career off Breezehurst Drive, across a pavement, through a brick wall and into the Swattons' back garden.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said "We are investigating the cause of this crash and appealing for witnesses."