A WOMAN is fighting for her life following a serious three-car crash in Dorset.

Officers are now appealing for witnesses or anyone with relevant dashcam footage to come forward following the collision on the A35 near Dorchester.

Dorset Police received a report at 1.49pm on Sunday of a collision between Dorchester and Winterbourne Abbas, near to Tilly Whim Lane, involving a black Ford Fiesta, a white Seat Ibiza and a black Land Rover.

Emergency services attended and a passenger from the Seat, a woman aged in her 50s, was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries that are believed to be life-threatening. Her family has been informed.

The driver of the Land Rover, a man aged in his 70s, was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries that were not believed to be serious.

Three further people were treated at the scene by the ambulance service but did not require hospital treatment.

Road closures were put in place to allow the emergency services to respond to the incident and for an examination of the scene to take place. The road was reopened at around 6.25pm.

Sergeant Mike Burt, of the Serious Collision Investigation Team, said: “We are carrying out enquiries to establish the full circumstances of this collision and I would urge any witnesses to the incident, or the manner of driving of the vehicles involved prior to it, to please contact us if you have not already spoken to police.

“I would also urge any motorists with dashcam who were travelling in the area to please check their footage to see if they have captured anything of relevance.

“Finally, I would like to thank members of the public for their patience and understanding as I fully appreciate this incident resulted in the closure of a main route. The closure was absolutely necessary for the emergency services to respond and to allow for an examination of the collision scene to be conducted.”

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: “We were called at 1.54pm on Sunday, December 1 to a road traffic collision in Charminster.

"We sent three double-crewed land ambulances, and an operations officer to the scene. We conveyed two patients by land ambulances to Dorset County Hospital.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email at scit@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55240184365.

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