AN ELDERLY couple are being treated in hospital after their car left the road and was submerged in a river.

Police said the couple, from West Stafford, were in the river for half an hour before being freed.

The accident happened just before 9pm last night outside Frome Farm, approximately 150 metres north of the West Stafford bypass.

The blue Renault Clio, driven by a 78-year-old man, was in collision with a white Volkswagen Polo.

The Clio struck a brick bridge parapet and went into the river Frome.

The man and his 76-year-old wife, who was a passenger in the car, were taken to Dorset County Hospital suffering from hypothermia.

The Volkswagen driver, a 56-year-old female, was shaken but unhurt.