Twenty-six pupils were taken to hospital after a bus overturned and caught fire in a rush-hour crash outside a school.

The single decker JD Travel bus careered down a verge outside Our Lady's High School in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, on Thursday morning.

Police and emergency services were called to the scene outside the school on Dowanfield Road before 9am and found the bus had flipped on to its side.

The youngsters were being taken to the school from the Abronhill area of Cumbernauld. The bus engine caught fire after the vehicle crashed down the embankment at the school.

The 26 pupils were taken to Monklands and Wishaw hospitals and the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.

Police said 44 pupils were on the bus at the time of the collision. One 16-year-old girl was taken to Wishaw General Hospital for "non-serious injuries", the force confirmed.

Four other girls - a 15-year-old, a 13-year-old and two aged 12 - were taken by ambulance to Monklands Hospital for observation.

A Scottish Ambulance Service said: "We dispatched multiple resources, including accident and emergency units, trauma team, special operations response teams, incident managers and patient transport service vehicles, to an address on Dowanfield Road, Cumbernauld.

"One patient was taken to Wishaw General Hospital, 14 patients were taken to Monklands Hospital and 11 patients were taken to the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow."

The school said paramedics were in attendance but no one was seriously injured and a text was sent to parents.

The children were all discharged from hospital later on Thursday.

A fire service spokeswoman said: "The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at 8.45am on Thursday to reports of a bus on fire close to Our Lady's High School in Cumbernauld.

"Three fire appliances were immediately mobilised to the scene. The bus had overturned on its side and firefighters put out the small fire in the engine compartment. Firefighters remain at the scene."

A spokesman for North Lanarkshire Council, said: "A single decker bus overturned just before 9am this morning close to Our Lady's HS, Cumbernauld.

"The bus was coming from the Abronhill area (Moss Road), with around 30-40 pupils on board.

"Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and paramedics are currently on site. The pupils are being attended to by school staff and emergency services in the assembly hall. All parents have been contacted."