A WOMAN in her twenties died and two others were taken to hospital with serious injuries following a crash in North Dorset.

At around 8.15pm on Saturday, May 1, 2021, Dorset Police received a report of a single vehicle collision on the B3081 Shaftesbury Road between Shaftesbury and Gillingham, near to the access to Port Regis School.

The collision involved a silver Audi A6 Allroad estate.

Emergency services attended and a 23-year-old female passenger of the Audi was pronounced dead at the scene. Her family has been informed.

A 28-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were both taken to Salisbury District Hospital with serious injuries.

All three occupants are from the local area.

Road closures were put in place to allow the emergency services to respond to the incident and for a detailed examination of the scene to be carried out. The closures were lifted at around 5am on Sunday, May 2.

And officers are appealing witnesses to the incident to come forward.

Police constable Leanne Steedman, of the traffic unit, said: “Our thoughts are with the family of the woman who sadly died at this extremely difficult time. We are carrying out a full investigation to establish the circumstances of this collision.

“I would urge anyone who witnessed the collision, or the manner of driving of the vehicle involved prior to it, to please contact us. I would also like to hear from any motorists who may have captured anything of relevance on dashcam.

“Finally, I would like to thank members of the public for their patience and understanding while the road closures were in place. These were absolutely necessary to allow the emergency services to respond and for us to carry out a thorough examination of the collision scene.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email to scit@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55210068549.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.