British Foreign Secretary, William Hague

BBC

A British man died when a coach carrying British schoolchildren crashed in France, the Foreign Office has said.

The accident near Reims in the early hours of Sunday morning involved a coach with 49 people on board returning to the Birmingham area, reports the BBC.

Local sources said the fatality was a 61-year-old man. One teenager was also said to be in a critical condition.

The UK Foreign Office said it was urgently investigating the incident and was providing consular assistance.

The AFP news agency said the crash happened on the A26 motorway, near Chalone-en-Champagne in the Champagne-Ardenne region, on the road between Troyes and the port of Calais.