POLICE expect to find out within weeks whether anyone will face charges over a fatal bus crash.

Polish fruit picker Piotr Wolksi, aged 26, died and four people were seriously injured after a coach carrying foreign workers – who had been on a day out at Alton Towers – plunged down an embankment.

After a 12-month investigation, Staffordshire police last week submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Chief Superintendent Mark Bates, commander of North Staffordshire division, said: "The tragic coach crash in Alton on August 18 last year was a major incident with multiple casualties which demanded a significant response from the emergency services.

"Detectives from our Major Investigation Department have carried out a thorough inquiry, which has largely focused on the condition of the coach prior to the crash."

Detailed forensic examination and testing of the coach's mechanics, including its braking system, has been carried out by experts both from the UK and abroad.

Ch Supt Bates added: "The coach driver has been interviewed, along with the owners of the coach company in Cambridgeshire.

"A file was submitted to the CPS last week for consideration as to whether charges will now be brought concerning the death of a 26-year-old passenger."