Taken from www.worldpop.com 

Ash have blamed their US tour bus driver for the near fatal accident that left drummer Rick McMurray suffering from broken ribs and bassist Mark Hamilton left wearing a neckbrace. Speaking exclusively to WorldPop, Mark said: 'I think the driver was asleep at the wheel.'

The accident happened last week as Ash were coming towards the end of a series of gigs supporting Moby on his Area 2 tour. The band have been receiving a number of get well soon messages with David Bowie even emailing a personal message to Rick! 'I had a nice surprise in my inbox the other day - hope you're not too bad, all the best, David Bowie!' Rick told WorldPop.

It seems that the accident could have been a lot worse with Mark giving WorldPop a detailed account of how the crash happened:

'It was about seven in the morning and we were driving from San Francisco to Seattle through a mountain range. I think the driver was asleep at the wheel. He was definitely not totally awake. I was the only person on the coach that was awake at the time.'

'I could hear that one of the wheels was rubbing against the curb on the road. This went on for about two minutes. I thought Jesus! This is not good! The next thing I remember was that the bus was tipped on to its side and I thought Holy S***! This is it!'

'I was hanging out of my bunk and I saw Rick and Charlotte fly past me. Charlotte ended up on Rick's bunk which is how he damaged his ribs.'

'The driver then claimed that he had a hit a tire that was in the middle of the road. The really weird thing is that we did a magazine interview the week before and I said that all US coach drivers are absolute nutters.'

Despite the injuries to his neck, Mark was still determined to party hard at the Kerrang! awards. With a bottle of Jack Daniels hanging out of his pocket, Mark told WorldPop: 'To be honest I'm already hungover. I stopped drinking at 5.30 this morning. I've been on a three day bender.'

Rick added that he was amazed that Ash managed to get through their Reading and Leeds sets over the weekend. 'We left it until about 5 '0 clock before making a decision if we were going to play Reading. We were due on at 7! I'm OK to bang my drums but it's the breathing in-between that's a problem.'

Despite the coach crash, Ash enjoyed their time on the road with Moby over the summer. 'Ah, the Mobester!' Rick told worldpop. 'What a guy! He's really unassuming and told us that he has been a fan of Ash for the past four years.'