PUPILS were yelling at other schoolmates to stop `pratting about' in the doorway of a moving bus just seconds before one was crushed beneath the vehicle's wheels, a court was told.

Marc Jackson, 15, a pupil at Colne Valley High School in Linthwaite, was run over by the single-decker as it drove through Milnsbridge on Friday, April 26, 2002.

Driver Peter Marsh, 56, of Rock Cottages, New Mill, has pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving.

Jurors at Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday how Marc had been hanging from the open front door of the bus along with two friends as it headed away from school towards Milnsbridge.

Jurors were able to take a closer look at a bus similar to the one from which Marc fell.

They spent about 45 minutes studying the folding doors.

They were shown how the driver's controls for opening and closing them could be overridden by an emergency button.

They also saw how a safety feature meant the doors did not shut fully if obstructed.

Once back in the courtroom, jurors were then shown a video of the route from Colne Valley High School to the accident site.

A number of other passengers and motorists gave evidence.

Kathryn Walinski-Kiehl, 16, was on the bus. She saw boys, including Marc, hanging out of the open doorway as they travelled along.

At one point the vehicle slowed to walking pace and she saw Marc pushed off two or three times, only to clamber back on.

She said the bus did stop. "The bus kept stopping several times and because no-one was getting on or off I presumed it was to stop them doing what they were doing."

She added: "Everybody was shouting at them to stop because they were just being so stupid."

She said there was a `horrid' bump when the bus ran over Marc.

James Bennett, 15, was also a passenger on the bus. He said Marc and another boy were by the doors: "They were both trying to push and pull each other off."

Motorist Christine Eastwood, of Milnsbridge, followed the bus down Cowlersley Lane, across Manchester Road and along Morley Lane.

She watched children sticking their arms and legs from the open doorway.

The vehicles then arrived at the junction of Morley Lane and Market Street, where she saw Marc fell under the wheels of the bus.

Mrs Stephanie Huntington was travelling in the opposite direction in her Ford Mondeo. She waited for the bus to negotiate the corner, and saw Marc slip from the doorway, where he appeared to be seated on a step.

The trial continues.