A MAN was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries following a smash involving a car and a HGV on the A31.

Dorset Police closed the A31 in both directions on Monday between Stag Gate and the Roundhouse roundabout after the accident, which was reported around 6.30am.

The road finally re-opened seven hours later.

A silver Ford Focus registered to a Weymouth man and a heavy articulated lorry registered to a Wiltshire company collided around 100 metres west of the Dullar Lane junction.

Paramedics treated both casualties at the scene, before one - the driver of the Ford Focus - was airlifted to hospital with what were described as "potentially life-threatening" injuries.

Emergency medics at Southampton General Hospital were standing by to treat the man.

Meanwhile, the lorry driver - understood to be from the Southampton area - was treated for shock at the scene.

Yesterday, officers were working to notify the car driver's next of kin.

Paramedics, police, and fire crews from Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene, and the air ambulance landed in an adjacent field.

Specially-trained collision investigators from Dorset Police carried out a detailed examination of the scene before recovery took place.

A South Western Ambulance Service spokesman confirmed two ambulances and a paramedic attended the accident, receiving the emergency call around 6.34am.

Police were called by the ambulance at 6.45am to the crash.

The A31 was reopened around 1pm after recovery of the vehicles.

Speaking to the Daily Echo at the scene, a police spokesman said: "We responded to a two-vehicle serious injury collision on the A31. A car has collided with a lorry. The road will remain closed for investigative purposes.

"The road will be open as soon as possible."

Hundreds of drivers were caught up in the ensuing traffic problems, with lengthy queues reported on local roads and, in particular, on the main A350 Blandford Road in both directions leading up to the Roundhouse Roundabout.

Road closures were implemented at the roundabout and at the junction of the A31 and Dullar Lane.

A Police spokesman said that any witnesses to the accident, or anyone who witnessed the manner both vehicles were being driven in the moments up to the accident, should get in touch on 101, quoting incident reference number 26:41.