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A woman was fighting for her life today after falling off the back of a new Routemaster bus.

The passenger, aged in her thirties, fell head first from the platform of the double decker in Kentish Town at 7.20am.

Paramedics treated her for a head injury at the scene in Prince of Wales Road. She was then taken to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington where she was in a potentially life-threatening condition.

Police are investigating the accident on the No24 route at the junction with Malden Crescent. It was not being treated as suspicious.

Transport for London also said it would carry out a “thorough investigation”. Mike Weston, Transport For London’s director of buses, said: “Our first concern is, of course, for the passenger and we can confirm the emergency services attended the scene. There will be a thorough investigation into this incident.”

The state-of-the-art Routemasters, nicknamed “Boris buses” after the London Mayor who introduced them at a cost of £354,500 each, have been hit by problems before.

Some of the fleet suffered early malfunctions with their air conditioning system which left passengers sweltering.