Man injured as A39 crash causes traffic delays

A MAN was taken to hospital this evening after being trapped in a three-vehicle crash on the A39 at Cannington.
He was cut free from the wreckage of his vehicle by fire and rescue crews who removed the roof of the vehicle using road rescue equipment.
The collision happened in Main Road, near the Tincknell Mitsubishi dealership and Bridgwater Mowers, and the casualty’s car ended up in a roadside hedge.
Paramedics then used a spinal board to out the injured man in an ambulance and take him to Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.
One lane of the road was blocked and queues of traffic travelling toward Bridgwater built up during more than two hours while the rescue was carried out and the highway cleared after the accident, which happened shortly before 5 pm.
A fire appliance from Bridgwater and a rescue tender from Taunton attended the incident.

Crash closes A358 as two are cut free from wreckage

THE A358 between Williton and Taunton was closed for a number of hours last night after two vehicles were in collision near Bicknoller.
Two men - one in each vehicle – were trapped in the wreckage and had to be cut free by fire and rescue crews using hydraulic cutting equipment.
They were handed over to waiting ambulance crews who took them to Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.
Both men’s injuries were said not to be life threatening.
Fire and rescue crews attended the scene from Williton and Nether Stowey, together with a rescue tender from Taunton, and a command support unit from Wiveliscombe.
The accident happened between Newton Lane and Slough Lane just before 9 pm and blocked the A358 in both directions, causing long traffic queues as police redirected vehicles along country lanes.

Woman airlifted to hospital after lorry crash closes A39

A WOMAN was airlifted to hospital this morning after being injured in a two-vehicle crash which closed the A39 near Williton.
A lorry and a car were in collision on a stretch of the road near West Quantoxhead shortly before 10 am.
The woman driver of the car was trapped in her vehicle with her two dogs, and the HGV driver was also trapped in his lorry.
Fire and rescue crews attended from Williton, Minehead, and Glastonbury, as well as a rescue tender from Glastonbury and a control unit from Wiveliscombe.
The rescue crews cut off the roof of the car to release the woman and her dogs.
She had suffered chest, head, and leg injuries and was flown to hospital in Weston-super-Mare for treatment.
The lorry driver was freed when the firefighters used a 135 ladder to reach his cab, and he was then taken by ambulance to Musgrove Park Hospital, in Taunton.
The situation was brought under control in little more than an hour, and the road was completely cleared and the fire and rescue crews stood down by 1.22 pm.

Traffic delays on A39 after crash and fire

A THREE-vehicle crash in which one caught fire caused delays on the A39 at Nether Stowey this morning.
Firefighters from Nether Stowey were called to the incident shortly after 8.30 am.
All the drivers and passengers of the vehicles had managed to free themselves before the fire brigade arrived.
A small fire in one of the vehicles was believed to have been caused by an electrical fault following the crash.
The blaze was put out using a hose reel jet, and damage was limited to part of the engine compartment.

Child injured in two-car A39 accident

A FOUR-year-old child was among three casualties injured when two cars were in collision on the A39 at lunchtime today, Monday, February 18.
Fire and rescue crews from Minehead and Williton were called to the incident, which happened at Washford Cross just after 12.30 pm.
They used First Responder medical training to assist the casualties and worked with paramedics who also attended.
One person was initially trapped in one of the cars, but they were helped free by the firefighters without having to be cut out of the wreckage.
The other two casualties, including the child, who suffered neck injuries, were already out of their vehicle.
Paramedics then took the casualties to Musgrove Park Hospital, in Taunton.

Car driver trapped in ditch after Exmoor crash

A WOMAN was freed from an overturned car on an Exmoor road last night, Thursday, January 31, and taken to Musgrove Park Hospital, in Taunton.
She became trapped shortly after 7 pm when the car she was driving near Luxborough left the road and hit a tree before coming to rest on its side in a ditch.
No other vehicle was involved in the accident.
Fire and rescue crews from Williton and Minehead attended the scene, together with a rescue tender from Taunton.
They stabilised the vehicle to help with the release of the woman motorist after more than half-an-hour, and she was then taken to hospital by ambulance.
The extent of her injuries was not known.

Appeal for witnesses to A39 three-car smash

POLICE have today, Wednesday, January 30, launched an appeal for witnesses to a serious road traffic accident which happened on the A39 neare Minehead last week.
PC Richard Overall is appealing for anybody who witnessed the accident to contact him at Minehead police station.
It happened shortly after 7 am on Tuesday, January 22, on the Dunster straight near the sawmills works.
A blue Peugeot 307 and blue Mini Cooper were travelling towards Minehead when they collided with a black Vauxhall Calibra travelling in the opposite direction.
The three-car crash resulted in the A39 being shut for several hours while the three drivers were cut free from the wreckage and the extensive amount of debris was cleared.
PC Overall said although it was a serious incident, none of the injuries suffered by the drivers - two women and a man - were life-changing.
It was the second serious road accident on the A39 outside Minehead in little more than a fortnight.

A39 lorry driver dies in crash with tree

POLICE are appealing for witnesses to help trace a silver coloured 'people carrier' following a fatal road traffic accident which has closed the A39 near Kilve.
Shortly after 9.35am today, Friday, January 25, a green colour box lorry was involved in a collision with a tree between Kilve and Williton.
The male driver of the lorry suffered life threatening injuries and was given basic life support treatment by a police officer before paramedics arrived and took over.
The Devon Air Ambulance then flew the man to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, in Exeter, applying advanced life support techniques to the victim throughout the flight.
However, the man was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital at about 11.15 am.
South Western Ambulance Trust spokeswoman Melodie Juste told The Post: "When our paramedics arrived at the scene they believed the patient was in cardiac arrest and they worked extremely hard and did everything they could to save him, all the way to hospital."
Witnesses reported that soon after the crash, they saw a silver ‘people carrier’ vehicle driving away.
Police do not know if the car was involved in any way in the collision or whether the occupants may have witnessed the incident and they need to trace the car as soon as possible.
Anybody with any information is asked to contact police on 0845 4567000.
The A39 was expected to remain closed until late in the evening.

Second serious A39 three-car crash in fortnight

EMERGENCY services were this morning dealing with a second serious road accident on the A39 outside Minehead in little more than a fortnight.
The three-car crash happened just after 7 am today, Tuesday, January 22, on the Dunster straight near the sawmills works.
The drivers of the three vehicles, which were a Mini Cooper, a Vauxhall Calibra, and a Peugeot 307, were thought to have suffered serious injuries and were trapped in their vehicles.
An ambulance crew was on the scene within three minutes of the alert, followed by a fire and rescue crew from Minehead Fire Station, and they were joined by a second crew from Williton and a rescue tender from Taunton.
The firefighters used cutting gear to remove the roofs and doors of the vehicles to free the trapped casulaties, two women and a man, who were then rushed to Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.
Long queues of traffic built up as the A39 was closed for several hours and motorists were diverted at Carhampton onto the Brendon Hills and back through Dunster.
Even children walking along the A39 to school in Minehead were turned back by police because the crash left so much debris lying around.
The clean-up operation was expected to continue well into the late morning with the road remaining closed.
The earlier accident, on January 7, also involved three cars a little further along the Dunster straight and resulted in an elderly woman being cut from her car and flown by air ambulance to hospital with a suspected broken pelvis.

A39 crash traps woman in car

FIRE and rescue crews freed a woman trapped in the wreckage of a car on the A39 near Holford on Saturday, January 12.
Two vehicles were involved in the collision, which happened at about 5.30 pm.
A fire engine from Nether Stowey and a rescue tender from Taunton attended the scene.
The woman casualty was freed using hydraulic cutting equipment and then taken to hospital by an ambulance crew.

Air ambulance flies A39 victim to hospital

THE A39 outside Minehead was closed for nearly an hour during the afternoon of Monday, January 7, following a serious car crash.

Three cars were involved in the accident, which happened shortly after 3 pm and left an elderly woman trapped inside one of the vehicles.
It happened on the Dunster Straight, outside the Old Dairy, Castle Home Farm, and involved a Suzuki car, a Ford Focus, and a Nissan Micra.

The woman driver of the Nissan was trapped in the wreckage and had to be freed by a fire and rescue crew using specialist cutting equipment to remove the roof of the vehicle.

The woman, who is thought to have suffered a broken hip, was then flown by Devon Air Ambulance to hospital.

One fire and rescue crew was called from Minehead and a rescue tender from Taunton also attended.

Firefighters cut woman free from ditch crash car

A WOMAN passenger had to be freed by firefighters when she became trapped in a car which left the B3188 road in Tolland, near Wiveliscombe, and plunged into a six feet deep ditch and became lodged in an upright position.
Fire crews from Wiveliscombe and Taunton were called to the scene by an ambulance crew shortly before 3.30 pm on Sunday afternoon, December 16.
They initially began to to cut out the car’s windscreen with hydraulic equipment, but the woman was eventually freed through the driver's door of the vehicle.
The woman was taken to hospital by paramedics, while the car driver, who was unhurt, remained at the scene with police officers.