A MOTORCYCLIST is still fighting for his life in hospital after a crash with a bus packed with schoolchildren.

The 19-year-old rider, from Strood, is in a "life-threatening but stable" condition following the accident with a single-decker bus in Gravesend Road, Strood, at the junction with London Road.

The accident happened at 4pm on Thursday.

According to witnesses, the motorcyclist hit a side window. Some children were slightly hurt by flying glass.

One mother of two teenage girls who were slightly injured in the collision said: "They were showered by glass as it shattered, and have a few small cuts to their legs.

"They were a bit shaken up by the accident, but they are fine now."

The motorcyclist is being cared for at the Kent and Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells after his condition worsened shortly after the accident. There was no intensive care bed available at Medway.

The road in Strood was closed for a couple of hours while crash investigators carried out a search.

Kevin Hawkins, commercial director for Arriva Southern Counties, said: "An Arriva bus operating on service 136 was involved in an incident with a motorcycle on Gravesend Road in Strood.

"We understand the driver of the motorcycle involved has been taken to hospital with suspected head injuries and that one bus customer needed treatment for shock.

"We are of course co-operating with police and other relevant authorities while they investigate the cause of the incident."

A spokesman for Medway Maritime Hospital apologised for not being able to admit the motorcyclist to their intensive care unit at the time.

Press officer David Green said: "None of the patients in the hospital's nine-bed intensive care unit are sufficiently well at present to be transferred to a ward.

"As a result Medway NHS Trust regrets that it was necessary to transfer a trauma patient to the Kent and Sussex Hospital at Tunbridge Wells. Geographically, this was the nearest available intensive care bed.

"The trust is very sorry for any inconvenience this caused the patient's family and friends.

"We will endeavour to transfer the patient back to Medway at the earliest practicable opportunity."

Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to contact Medway's Crash Investigation Unit on 01634 884130.