A builder is being praised for his brave actions after calmly taking control of a rush hour crash scene in Ipswich.

Ipswich Star: James Hart saved the day by directing traffic on Spring Road and helping the driver of a car in a crash before police got to the scene Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWNJames Hart saved the day by directing traffic on Spring Road and helping the driver of a car in a crash before police got to the scene Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)

A car collided with a double-decker bus at the junction of Kirby Street and Spring Road at 4.20pm on Wednesday, January 8, causing major disruption.

James Hart, who lives in Spring Road with his wife and three children, heard the loud crash and ran out to see if anyone was injured and could smell smoke.

The 44-year-old pulled the driver from the car as a precaution and then remained at the scene for nearly an hour and a half.

"I was just making sure everyone was OK really, it was instinct more than anything," Mr Hart recalled.

"He collided with the bus at speed and we noticed that there was a fluid leaking from the front of the car too so I decided that moving him away was the best thing to do."

The builder, who is trained in first aid, was assisted by other bystanders and once he had made sure the driver was safe, he made his way into the road to begin directing the traffic.

"I've done it at work because I'm a builder so it's not a big deal," he added.

"I didn't do anything special really, it's what anyone would have done."

Police arrived on the scene at 4.55pm and, according to Mr Hart, asked him if he could continue with the traffic until further help arrived.

The cool-headed hero was then approached by the bus driver who asked if he could assist in getting the group of 20 passengers off the damaged bus and flag down another one which was sitting in the rush hour traffic.

Neighbour Kim Crawford, who also lives in Spring Road, was impressed by the brave actions of Mr Hart and spoke about how smoothly the whole operation went.

"It was amazing he was out there for so long stood in the road," she said.

"In times where we hear so much about awful things all the time on the news, its nice to see a story of someone doing good things."

Police were also dealing with a four-car pile-up on the A12 at Martlesham which happened at around 5.16pm.

MORE: A12 reopened after four car crash

An ambulance attended the scene to treat the bus driver for shock while the car was recovered. There were no serious injuries.