TWO women were released from their cars and taken to hospital after a pile-up involving a lorry on the A31, Ringwood, which caused tailbacks on Tuesday.

One woman in her late teens, thought to be from Christchurch, suffered shoulder and knee injuries and was flown to Southampton by air ambulance.

She was trapped in her Mini Cooper for 20 minutes while firefighters released her. She was placed on a spinal board before being taken to the helicopter.

Another woman, also in her late teens, was in a second car caught up in the collision. She was taken by ambulance to Bournemouth hospital with a suspected injury to her neck.

The lorry driver was uninjured.

The shunt happened on the westbound carriageway near the Poulner flyover at 1pm.

Police closed the westbound carriageway totally for about 40 minutes. One lane was then opened until about 2.45pm.

The eastbound carriageway was also closed for about 10 minutes when the air ambulance was on the scene.

The tailback on the westbound lane was around four miles long.