8:30am Saturday 27th June 2009
By James Tourgout
A WOMAN died and a man was seriously injured in a head-on horror crash on the A354.
She was pronounced dead at the scene of the smash on Dorchester Hill at Winterborne Whitechurch yesterday afternoon.
The woman, aged 51, from the Dorchester area, was driving a gold coloured Peugeot 205 towards Milborne St Andrew when the crash happened at 2.50pm.
Police said that her car and a green Land Rover being driven in the opposite direction by a man aged 53 from Milborne St Andrew were involved in a head on collision.
The Land Rover driver was taken to the Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester with serious but not life threatening injuries.
Police said that his injuries included a broken hip, pelvis and sternum. Police described his condition as ‘stable’.
Officers have appealed for witnesses to the crash and want to hear from anyone who saw the manner in which the vehicles were being driven beforehand.
Sergeant Dave Stroud, of the Dorchester Traffic Department, said the accident happened about 250 metres south west of the entrance to the Lady Bailey Residential Park, a mobile homes park. He said: “The road remained closed for several hours while police and emergency services attended.”
Both cars were seized by police for examination as part of their investigation into the crash.
Motorists faced diversions as police sealed off the road. Farmers Keith and Ellen Evans were on their way back from Blandford when they were passed by a convoy of emergency service vehicles on their way to the scene of the crash.
Mr Evans said: “We had just left town when we saw police cars, an ambulance, a paramedic and the fire brigade all flashing through the village. All the traffic was diverted away down a narrow road which is quite dangerous as well.”
Firefighters from Blandford and Wareham attended along with an ambulance and a paramedic car. The air ambulance was placed on standby but did not attend. Emergency crews cleaned up thick patches of oil and debris, including old parking tickets, that were left on the road after the crash.
Witnesses and anyone who saw the vehicles beforehand is urged to call PC Ashley Farman of Blandford road traffic department on 01305 222222.
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