A TRIP of a lifetime to see Father Christmas turned into a nightmare for a Hampshire family after the coach they were travelling in crashed.

Ten-year-old Hollie Bladen, her five-year-old brother Jacob, and their dad Jon were almost at the end of the day trip to Lapland, on which they had been joined by Jon's mother Dora, his sister-in-law Kirsty and her two children Jack, 9, and Thomas, 5, when the accident happened.

Hollie and Jacob's mum, Janet Bladen, who had stayed behind after breaking her collarbone six weeks ago, told the Daily Echo of her shock at hearing the news from her husband shortly after the crash.

"My mother-in-law had paid for the trip for the children for Christmas," said Janet, 37.

"I think the coach was on the way back to the airport when it left the road and skidded. It didn't overturn but people were thrown forward. The force was enough to put Jacob on his knees.

"Some passengers, including my mother-in-law and nephew, were injured."

Mrs Bladen said she did not know whether they were taken to hospital.

"My children were fine but my husband said his back is sore," she added.

"He was in shock when he phoned me. He just said there had been a crash but that they were all OK."

The day trip to see Father Christmas in Lapland was organised through Transun, with return flights from Bristol to Ivalo airport in Finland.

The flight back to Bristol last night was delayed so that all the passengers on the Lapland trip, including Mrs Bladen's family, could return home to Sway.

"They were so excited about the trip," she said. "But it has turned into a bit of a disaster, all in all.

"I am still in shock myself," she added. "I can't believe it has happened. I am just relieved that they are all OK."