A MAN is fighting for life in hospital after a multiple vehicle crash on the Ridgeway between Weymouth and Dorchester which led to traffic chaos early today.

The 30-year-old victim from Weymouth was riding a moped towards home last night when he was in collision with a red Volkswagen Polo travelling in the opposite direction containing two teenagers from Weymouth and Dorchester.

Two other cars were also involved.

Police were forced to close the A354 between Upwey and the Tesco roundabout at Dorchester to conduct a full scene investigation and it remained shut until after the morning rush hour.

Commuters and Dorchester Market visitors faced delays as traffic was diverted and police slammed impatient drivers who ignored road closed signs and tried to negotiate the Ridgeway. Three ambulances attended the scene.

A number of drivers were spoken to about their behaviour and a police spokesman said: "We urge motorists to comply with diversions signs. They are in place for their benefit of all road users."

The collision happened just before 10pm on Monkton Hill on the Dorchester side of the Ridgeway. The moped rider suffered what police described as life threatening leg, arm and hand injuries and he was taken by ambulance to Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester.

He was out of theatre early today and is being treated in the intensive care unit.

An 18-year-old Weymouth man driving the Polo and his 18-year-old female passenger from Dorchester were cut free from their vehicle by two crews of Dorchester firefighters and also taken to hospital but with less serious injuries.

The other cars, which were travelling towards Dorchester, were a yellow Vauxhall Nova driven by an 18-year-old man from Weymouth and also carrying a 14-year-old girl from Dorchester, plus a red Vauxhall Vectra driven by a man. None of them was hurt.

PC John Watson of the road policing unit at Dorchester is appealing for witnesses and anyone who saw the vehicles being driven prior to the collision.

The collision was one of several smashes on local roads yesterday.

A motorcycle rider was seriously injured after a collision with a car at Morden Park Corner on the A35 between Bere Regis and Poole.

A driver had a lucky escape after a car went through a hedge and ended up in a ditch in a field after a collision on the Old Sherborne Road at Forston.

A car went into a tree following a collision near Martinstown and two cars collided in Charminster.