A ST ALBANS-BASED holiday company whose coach was involved in a fatal accident in Germany has been accused of using the wrong tyres.

German police claim the coach which crashed between Ludwighausen and Kaiserslauten in southern Germany was not equipped with tyres which could cope with winter weather conditions Coach hostess Rosie Nolan, 57, died and nine other Britons are in hospital one in a critical condition after the coach overturned en route to a skiing holiday in Austria.

Cantabrica Coaches, which has its headquarters in London Road, St Albans, has denied police allegations that the coach had balding summer tyres'.

A statement from Highway Police in Wattenheim said: "In the opinion of the police, it is irresponsible to send a bus with such tyres on a trip in the winter."

The same tyres are used for all the firm's coaches which run throughout Europe, including six vehicles operating in snowy conditions in the French Alps.

Mr Colin Birch, commercial manager of Cantabrica's ski holiday division Snowcoach, attacked the response of the German police and said he would be "surprised" if investigations uncovered any vehicle faults.

He said: "We believe that it is irresponsible and unhelpful to jump to conclusions before the results of a full investigation are known.

"The coach in question is a state-of-the-art modern coach fitted with all the latest safety features. It was fully checked prior to departure."

The company has called for a full investigation including an assessment of the road and examination of the vehicle's tachograph a device measuring the number of miles a vehicle covers and the frequency of stops.

Coach driver Steven Gibson, 34, has undergone surgery for a broken leg and hip. He will be interviewed by German police this week.

Police are investigating reports that the coach was travelling at 100km per hour on an 80 km per hour stretch of road.

The driver denied the allegations, claiming he was driving at the reduced speed limit imposed on the road under the harsh weather conditions.

The holiday company has extended its sympathy to the family of Ms Nolan, from Leicestershire, whose body was flown back to the UK on Tuesday.

Mr Birch said: "My main concern has obviously been Rosie and her family, the driver and not least the clients who were in hospital.

"We are full of sympathy and regret it is very saddening."

Eleven of the 35 Britons on board continued their trip to ski resorts in Mayrhofen and Kirchdorf, Austria.

Eight others returned home on Saturday night after opting to cancel their holiday.