A NUMBER of people were seriously injured on a chaotic day on Dorset's roads.

Motorists faced lengthy delays across the county yesterday following the smashes, with three happening on main routes in south and west Dorset within the space of an hour.

Emergency services were first called to a three vehicle collision on the A35 at Bere Regis shortly before 6am.

An articulated lorry, registered to a Bristol company, and two cars, a blue Mini Cooper registered to a Dorchester man and a black Ford Focus registered to a Weymouth woman were involved in the collision, which forced police to close the road between the Bere Regis roundabout and the Shell garage roundabout, causing disruption for early-morning commuters.

Two men, both in their 20s, suffered injuries in the collision with one man being taken to Dorset County Hospital. The other man was treated at the scene by paramedics.

Later in the day, one car overturned after being involved in a collision in Weymouth just before 2pm.

Paramedics and police rushed to the scene after the car, a red Volkswagen Polo registered to a Weymouth man was in collision with a grey Hyundai i20, registered to a man from north Hampshire, and overturned on the junction of Westerhall Road and Melcombe Avenue near the community hospital.

A woman, who was driving the Polo, was attended to by paramedics, but only suffered slight injuries and did not require further treatment.

Police officers directed traffic as they waited for the vehicle to be recovered.

Around 20 minutes later, a motorcyclist from Dorchester was taken to hospital after colliding with a van.

The motorbike, a black Kawasaki registered to a man from Dorchester, and a white Mercedes van, registered to a company from Southampton, collided on Watery Lane in Tincleton.

Police close the road between the Ilsington Road junction and the Woodsford junction as the emergency services worked.

The motorcyclist was taken to hospital following the crash after complaining of abdominal injuries, but it is believed the injuries are not life-threatening.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "We were called at 2.13pm to a two vehicle road traffic collision between a motorbike and a van on Watery lane, Tincleton.

"South Western Ambulance Service attended the scene as the motorcyclist was complaining of abdominal injuries.

“It is not believed the injuries are serious.”

Shortly after, a woman was cut out of her car and rushed to hospital after being involved in a two-car collision on the A35 near Winterbourne Abbas.

Two cars, a blue Toyota Aygo registered to a man from West Sussex, and a green Land Rover Defender registered to a woman from Bridport, collided near the Littlebredy turning just before 2.30pm.

Firefighters, police and paramedics were called to the incident and had to free one woman from her car.

She was treated at the scene by paramedics before being rushed to Dorset County Hospital. It is not known how serious the injuries are, but they are not believed to be life-threatening The A35 was closed for around one hour in both directions following the smash, causing lengthy tailbacks for motorists.

The traffic misery was further compounded for motorists after several roadworks in the area, including at Chalbury Corner, Preston and at the Crown roundabout in Bridport, causing further delays.

Another collision happened on the A30 at Shaftesbury late yesterday evening, again resulting in serious injuries.

As the Echo went to press, no more information was available.