THREE people were cut free from a car after a crash caused rush hour delays on Bournemouth’s busiest road.

A Renault Clio, a Fiat Punto, a Honda Civic and a Hyundai were in collision just before 5pm yesterday on the Wessex Way, close to County Gates roundabout.

One casualty, a young woman, was seen being given a neck brace and taken onto one of three waiting ambulances.

Firefighters from Westbourne and Springbourne used hydraulic gear to remove the roof of the green Renault, registered to a Bournemouth address, to free three casualties who were medically trapped.

They were all taken to hospital.

Tailbacks snaked back across the conurbation following the incident on the westbound lane.

The road was closed in both directions for around 45 minutes and police set up a diversion along Coy Pond Road.

Carpenter Michael Ferguson, from Canford Heath, and a colleague were driving to work when they got caught in the traffic jam.

Michael, 24, said: “When we came around the corner from County Gates the accident must have just happened.

“The ambulances came past us as we drove onto the Wessex Way.

“It was just gridlocked.”

One man, who had been getting a lift from a friend, got out and walked the stretch of the road because the congestion was so bad.

Driver Graham Reader, 57, was nearer the front of queuing cars.

Mr Reader, visiting from Essex, said: “It seems a surprising place for it to happen.”

Police said casualties were taken to hospital but a spokesman said their injuries were not serious and described the crash as a ‘shunt’.