A MAN died and another was seriously injured in a two-car crash.

Residents heard the sound of the collision on the A35 three miles west of Winterbourne Abbas and looked outside to see other drivers stopping to administer CPR at the scene.

Traffic quickly built up after a Peugeot 307 estate taxi driven by a 46-year-old man from Poole collided with a Ford Mondeo being driven by a 65-year-old man from the Dorchester area.

The crash happened just after 10.30pm close to Kingston Russell on a series of rises known as the Three Sisters.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: “Despite attempts at resuscitation by members of the public and ambulance crew the driver of the taxi was declared dead.

“The Mondeo driver was taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester with serious injuries.

“He is currently stable but poorly.”

The A35 was closed in both directions for four hours while police traffic officers carried out crash scene investigations.

The area is the scene of several crashes in recent years.

Local residents said the amount of damage to the fence of Long Barrow Farm was testament to the number of accidents that occurred along that stretch of road.

Farmer Bruce Maltby, 44, said his wife saw people at the scene as the emergency services arrived.

He said: “You can hear it through the house when there’s a crash there.

“It tends to be when the clocks change and there’s a change in temperature.

“And the camber of the road surface tends to catch people out.”

Phillip Mapstone, 54, saw the lights of the emergency services and said he worries about the speed of drivers on that stretch of road.

He said: “People come off the road there and end up in the woods or on the bank and some end up in the field on the other side.

“But it’s not an especially sharp bend.”

Fellow Kingston Russell resident Heddon Johnson, 59, said cars come off the road around the same spot in a regular basis throughout the year.

Police are appealing for anyone with information to contact PC Davis of the Western Traffic Division on the non-emergency number 101 or to call Weymouth Police station on 01305 222222.

Next of kin of both men have been informed but police have not yet revealed their names.