Five hurt including two trapped in midnight village crash as car overturns

FIVE people were injured when a car crashed and overturned late at night in a village at the foot of the Quantock Hills.

Firefighters from Taunton were called to the incident in Kingston St Mary shortly before midnight on Sunday and had to free two people who were trapped in the wreckage.

The other three had managed to escape the vehicle by themselves before the fire brigade, police, and ambulance crews arrived.

The blue colour car was thought to have struck an oak tree at the side of a bend on the mostly single track road before overturning.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service mobilised two fire engines from its Taunton station and a heavy rescue tender, one of only four in its fleet, after being called by police to assist with the rescue.

They found the car on its roof in Parsonage Lane and fire crews used stabilising equipment to make it safe before they could cut free the two trapped occupants using hydraulic cutting gear and small tools.

Paramedics took the casualties by ambulance to the accident and emergency unit in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, and police left the scene at about 3 am.

No other vehicle was involved in the crash, which was reported at 11.51 pm.

Residents living along Parsonage Lane said they heard nothing and had been unaware of the emergency services attending an incident.

Parish council chairman Cllr Paul Townsend told the Free Press that Parsonage Lane was not known as an accident blackspot.

However, Cllr Townsend said a similar crash had happened in the village last year when a car rolled over on an embankment at the junction of Parsonage Lane and Kingston Road.

He said the council had recently extended the 30 mph zone out of the village and along Parsonage Lane but he was unsure if Sunday’s incident was inside or outside the speed limit section.

Cllr Townsend said: “It is a very narrow stretch of road but it is not an accident blackspot.”