TOWN centre roads in Bournemouth were shut while a woman was cut free from her vehicle after a three-car crash.

Witnesses ran to the aid of the injured woman in her red Volkswagen Fox and then held up traffic before police arrived and shut St Stephen’s Way and Braidley Road.

The crash happened at the junction of the two roads at 1.30pm yesterday.

The two male drivers of the other cars, a red Jaguar XK8 registered to a man from Fordingbridge, and a blue VW Golf registered to a Poole company, appeared uninjured.

But firefighters removed the roof of the red Volkswagen car, registered to a woman from Bournemouth. She was taken to an ambulance on a spinal board.

Bob Wild, 67, from Organford, was working at a house yards from the crash when he heard a “massive bang”.

“You can see how loud it was from the impact,” he said.

Bob initially thought the crash had happened up on the A338, which passes above the junction.

“Then I saw the Jaguar and the other cars and I was shocked and just ran over. She was conscious but she had pains in her chest.”

“It was a good thing she had her seat belt on and the air bag went off as that saved her from going through the windscreen,” he said.

A policeman made it into the rear seat and held the woman’s head still while firefighters removed the roof. Police said the woman complained of neck pain but was not believed to be seriously injured.