A man has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a car collided with a streetlight and a wall. 

At 2:43am on Monday, Dorset Police received a report of a vehicle collision involving a grey Ford Focus estate in Dorchester Road near to Weymouth Community Hospital.

It was reported the vehicle collided with a streetlight and a wall.

The driver - a man in his 70s - was taken to hospital with serious injuries and his condition is described as life-threatening. His next of kin has been informed.

Road closures were put in place to allow emergency services to deal with the incident.

The road was subsequently cleared at 6am and the vehicle was recovered. 

The local authority and electricity board have been notified in relation to the damaged streetlight. 

Mike Fletcher, owner of The Park pub on Grange Road said: “It woke me up at about 3am, all of the police lights.

“I saw a car in the hedge, the front had gone into the hedge and the lamppost was on top of the car.

“The lamp was hanging over the top of the car.

“There was a fire engine, an ambulance and police there I think a wire was still live.”

Local resident Tabitha Hathaway added: “I was up when it happened at about 2.45am.

“There were police cars, two ambulances, I saw the guy get taken away in the ambulance.

“The police were here for hours, the whole night the room was lit up like it was Christmas.”

SSE were at the scene this morning to switch off the live lamppost.

Police Constable Jamie Ralphs, of Weymouth police, said: “An investigation is underway and I would ask anyone who saw what happened to please get in touch.

“I am appealing to anyone motorists who were travelling in the area with a dashcam fitted to their vehicle to please check their footage for anything of relevance.

“Finally, I would like to thank the public for their patience during the road closure, which was in place throughout the night. This allowed us to safely treat the injured person and carry out an examination of the scene.”

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: “We were called at 02.34am on Monday, February 19 to an incident near Weymouth.

"We sent two double-crewed land ambulances and an operations officer and we conveyed one patient by land ambulance to Dorset County Hospital.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55240025452.

Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.