A bus driver who struck a teenager with his double-decker while drinking behind the wheel has been jailed.
Andrew Aldridge, 49, bought a bottle of alcohol at around 10.20am while on shift and poured it into another container, according to Essex Police.
He sipped the drink and picked up passengers from two schools in Southend.
He then struck a teenage boy who was crossing the road in Shoebury and continued driving with schoolchildren on board, the force said.
The boy suffered serious injuries to his head and foot. He spent three nights in hospital following the incident on February 26.
Aldridge's passengers told him he had struck a pedestrian but he carried on driving.
He later took his bus out of service and asked his passengers to leave, police said.
Essex Police officers breathalysed Aldridge, of Princes Street, Southend, and found he was three times over the limit.
Aldridge admitted at Basildon Crown Court to dangerous driving as well as driving with excess alcohol and failing to stop.
He was jailed on Tuesday for 18 months and banned from driving for six years.
Pc Gill Brettell of Chigwell Roads Policing Unit said that "worryingly" Aldridge drove his bus for almost five hours before the crash.
