THREE people were hospitalised with serious injuries following a three-car crash near the Beaminster Tunnel.

Emergency services rushed to the scene at around 7am yesterday to reports of a three-car crash on the A3066 Tunnel Road in Beaminster near South Dibberford Farm.

The road was closed by police following the crash, and three people have sustained injuries and were all taken to Yeovil District Hospital by land ambulance.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said the injuries were serious but not life-threatening, .

A spokesman for South Western Ambulance Service said there were three people injured, two elderly patients and a young man, and that all three people had been taken to hospital with one of the elderly patients complaining of neck pain.

The A3066 was closed between Whetley Cross and the B3163 Broadwindsor Road junction as the emergency services worked, and remained shut until shortly after 1pm as an investigation into the collision started and the vehicles are recovered.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said the collision involved a blue Toyota Corolla, registered to a man from Burton Bradstock, a green Ford Focus, registered to a woman from Beaminster, and that the police had no details for the third vehicle.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “We were called to a three car road traffic collision at 7.05am on the A3066 Tunnel Road in Beaminster.

“The collision happened about half-a-mile from the tunnel on the Crewkerne side of the road, and the road was closed following the incident.

“One occupant was complaining of neck pain, but it is unclear how serious the injuries are.”

Firefighters also attended the incident, and one female passenger was freed from a car. Two crews from Beaminster and Crewkerne attended the incident, and also cleared an oil spill and made the vehicles safe following the accident.

Dorset Police are now appealing for witnesses to the crash and to contact them call 101 quoting crime incident number 17:0039