A MAN was taken to hospital following a crash involving a car and a tractor.

It happened on the A35 Puddletown bypass and caused major traffic congestion in the Dorchester area this afternoon.

Rescuers said a man from the car involved suffered an arm injury and was taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester for treatment. The extent of the injuries are not known but they are not thought to be very serious.

Emergency services were alerted at just before 3pm to the collision westbound before the Cuckoo Lane/Troy Town junction.

The road was blocked but police said the road did not have to be closed. The crash was confined to one lane of the dual carriageway meaning westbound traffic was able to slowly nudge its way past.

However traffic built up and there were long delays in the area, with vehicles stretching back miles.

Dorset Police said the road was clear by 4.25pm but there was still queueing traffic in the area for some time afterwards.

Debris had to be cleared from the carriageway.

A spokesman for South Western Ambulance said they sent an ambulance and a rapid response paramedic to the scene.

The spokesman said: “We  received a report that a car had hit the back of a tractor.

“There was one male patient with an arm injury who we took to Dorset County Hospital.”

Dorset Police said the car involved was a grey BMW registered to a man from Dorchester. Details of the tractor involved are not known.

Passing motorists said the car seemed to be quite badly damaged, with dents to the chassis.