text: Carrying out the perfect U-turn can be tricky at the best of times, so spare a thought for this coach driver who had to complete it on a narrow river slipway. Not only did the driver have to perform the manoeuvre, he also had to do it while carrying a bus full of French tourists and under the watchful stare of passersby. The coach driver found himself stuck on slipway, with a queue of cars behind, after he tried to board a  ferry in Devon only to get turned back. This is the moment that a French coach was forced to perform a U-turn on a river slipway in Dartmouth, Devon . Eyewitnesses feared that one wrong move from the driver and the bus would slid into the estuary . Unable to reverse back up the way he had come, the driver had no other option than to attempt the  U-turn. Terrified Gallic customers were said to have clung onto their seats as the driver slowly shunted forward and back. Eyewitnesses feared that one wrong move and the bus would slid into the estuary. Tourists and locals enjoying the sunshine at Dartmouth gathered to watch as the coach, owned by French operator Sovetours, was turned back when it tried to board the ferry on the Kingswear side of the River Dart. A spokesman for the Dartmouth Higher Ferry company confirmed that the coach was too big to be allowed to cross. He said 'Triple-axle coaches are not permitted to use the ferry as they are usually overweight. 'Experience has shown that damage can occur to the rear of the vehicle during loading and unloading. There are clear signs in place to warn drivers.' The ferry service between Dartmouth and Kingswear  costs £4.70 for cars and 50p for foot passengers for a single journey. It clearly states on the firm's website that they are unable to carry triple-axie coaches. After much French blue language, the driver managed to complete a U-turn on the seaweed covered, sloping slipway and head back to go the long way round. The coach driver was turned back after trying to take a ferry to cross the River Dart in Dartmouth, Devon  (file picture of River Dart in Dartmouth)
target: French owned Sovetours coach turned back from boarding ferry in Devon .
  Bus full of tourists had wanted to cross the River Dart in Dartmouth .
  Ferry bosses say coach was too big to be allowed to cross river .
  Coach driver forced to perform U-turn on slippery narrow slipway .