A Croydon schoolboy was left in agony after being crushed beneath the wheels of a double decker bus in Thornton Heath last week.

As rush hour commuters made their way from work last Tuesday evening (October 3), 13-year-old Luke Murtagh became trapped under the rear wheel of a 14-ton route 198 bus in Parchmore Road.

He suffered a shattered pelvis, broken leg, ankle and back bone during the horrific incident which occurred outside the William Hill bookmakers at around 6pm.

It is not known how Luke, the eldest of three siblings, became trapped under the bus but it is thought he slipped and fell under the vehicle.

Sharon Hawke, a Thornton Heath resident who saw Luke trapped and helped to comfort him before fire crews and paramedics arrived, said: "People were screaming and panicing and they wanted to let the tyres down to get the boy out but they couldn't because it would have crushed him.

"All I could say to him was don't panic, you're going to be alright. He told me he was going to be sick so I told him to turn his head so that he didn't choke."

Sharon's husband Carrison added: "I have seen stuff like this before but it was a bit of a shock, especially as it was a young boy."

As members of the public gathered around, firefighters from Norbury fire station had to use air bags to lift the wheels of the bus in order to free Luke whose right hand side was pinned under the wheel.

After around half an hour Luke was freed and paramedics were finally able to reach him.

He was then rushed to Kings College Hospital in London by ambulance.

A police spokesman said that Luke was in a stable to critical condition last week but that, although he remains in a stable condition in hospital, his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

A spokesperson for Arriva London, operator of the 198 bus route, said: "Dave Jones, commercial support manager for Arriva London, said: "I can confirm that an Arriva route 198 bus was involved in an accident with a teenage boy on Tuesday, October 3. We have passed on CCTV images to the Metropolitan Police and will continue to work with them to find out the cause of the accident."

Whitehorse Road and Thornton Heath High Street were closed to traffic after the incident on Tuesday and remained closed until around 10.30pm that night.