The calls came this week as pupils and staff at The RC Blessed George Napier School in Banbury struggled to come to terms with the loss of Tomas Ryan-Vig, 13.

Tomas died when the single-decker coach he was on was in collision with a tractor on the B4100 bridge between Aynho and Souldern.

A second coach, also carrying children home from the school, was at the scene when the crash happened at about 3.45pm on Monday.

Souldern Parish Council chairman David Couzens said: "It was an accident waiting to happen.

"If you know the corner you can get through it at 55 or 60 mph, but if there is someone coming the other way and they are slightly over the line then you are in trouble."

Children were taken off the school buses and looked after by paramedics and staff at the wedding and conference centre The Great Barn, just yards from the scene.

Jerry Stephenson, of The Great Barn, said: "There have been loads of accidents on that stretch over the years.

A lady died at the entrance to The Great Barn about two years ago and every few months there are cars going off the road – there's a car in the woods at the moment.

"There should be more signs and perhaps rumble strips to slow things down. But the problem is trying to get things done, because it's right on the border of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.

"We spoke to someone about it at Oxfordshire County Council after the lady died but they said there must be a certain number of accidents before they can do anything and that stretch has not yet reached that figure."

Responsibility for the B4100 is split between Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire councils, with the boundary being roughly on the bridge where the accident happened.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, calls have been made to both councils to make the stretch of road safer.
Mr Couzens said: "If there was a slow down sign on the corner then people might be more aware of the dangers."

Keith McClellan, Aynho Parish Council chairman, said: "A metre added to either side of the road on the corner would help. It would be costly, but it is people's lives at stake.

"Everybody who has driven down there has had nasty moments and when you have two large vehicles passing each other there is a problem.

"It is a dangerous bit of road and we have expressed our concerns about it over the years. It is the second fatality in recent years.

"There was an accident two or three weeks ago. No one was injured but the car is still lying off the road."

Christine Williams from Croughton was killed on the B4100, just 200 yards from the site of the school bus crash, in August 2001 when her car was in a head on collision.

Oxfordshire's principle engineer for road safety Geoff Barrell said: "If there is a particular accident history on any stretch of road that crosses a county border we would consult the other county."

A Northamptonshire County Council spokesman said: "This isn't a site which has ever come to the attention of our road safety officers and we have never been asked to investigate it. In the last three years there have been two accidents within 100 metres of the accident site, one was slight and one serious.

"We are waiting to hear from the police and will of course assist them in investigating and looking at remedial measures."

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: "The county does have some very minor rural roads which often aren't built for the volume of traffic they're carrying."