A MAN airlifted to hospital after a car crash has died in hospital.

He had been in a group of four men travelling in a black Peugeot 306 between Hinton Martell and the B3078 Cranborne Road near Wimborne when the car left the road, overturned and struck a tree.

The accident happened on Biddlecombe Lane, Hinton Martell, at 9pm on Thursday.

Dorset Police believe no other vehicle was involved.

A police helicopter airlifted the 25-year-old man, who had been a rear-seat passenger in the car, to Poole General Hospital, closing Longfleet Road in Poole so they could land near the hospital.

He was later transferred to a neurological unit at Southampton but passed away on Friday.

The car driver, a 23-year-old man, was treated for shock after the accident.

The other passengers, aged 19 and 23, also suffered serious but not life-threatening head injuries.

The Echo understands the car contained two twin brothers in the front, and two brothers of another family in the rear.

A paramedic first on the scene described being confronted with "chaos" at the crash site and called for more resources to attend.

The car had brought down a two foot wide branch of a large tree, an ambulance spokeswoman said.

The road was closed after the crash while police crime scene officers examined the scene.

The vehicle was recovered at around 3am and the local authority was called out to clear the road of debris.

Witnesses are asked to contact Ferndown road policing unit on 01202 222222.

The incident is the latest in a line of vehicle accidents on Dorset roads, which have claimed 30 lives so far this year.

In a recent accident at Mannington, Wimborne, two men died and one woman was injured after their vehicle came off the road, struck a tree and burst into flames.