Firefighters spent nearly an hour trying to free a seriously-injured man from the wreckage of his car after a crash near Market Drayton. The collision happened on the A442 in Hodnet yesterday.

Three other people needed hospital treatment. Paramedics and fire crews from Hodnet, Market Drayton and Wellington were alerted to the two-car smash shortly after 6pm.

It took fire crews about 50 minutes to free one driver, thought to be a 22-year-old Telford man. He suffered serious head, leg and arm injuries and was taken to Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.

Two men and a woman were also taken to hospital, although none of their injuries are thought to be life threatening.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “On arrival at the scene, crews found two cars had been in a serious collision. Both vehicles had suffered significant front end damage. A man, believed to be 22, was trapped in one of the vehicles for about 50 minutes.

“The man suffered serious head, leg and arm injuries and was treated at the scene by ambulance crews while being cut free by the fire service.

“A woman, believed to be in her 60s, suffered an eye injury. A man, believed to be in his 70s, suffered minor injuries and both were transferred to PRH.

“A man, believed to be in his 50s, suffered an ankle injury and was treated at the scene. The man was taken to hospital by a relative.”

Sub-officer Roger Smith, from Market Drayton fire station, said: “We had to cut the roof off the car using cutting equipment. Then the ambulance dealt with him and they put him on a spinal board and took him to the PRH. It was not quite a head-on crash, but it was not far off.”