AN ELDERLY man was cut free from his car after he was involved in a two-vehicle smash which destroyed a pub wall.

Police, fire and ambulance personnel rushed to the crossroads near the Rose and Crown pub in Lytchett Matravers shortly before 1pm on Friday.

A white Ford Transit van, registered to a Swanage man, and a blue Mercedes, registered to a Poole man, were involved in the smash, both then hitting the wall of the pub’s car park.

The casualty - who had been driving the Mercedes - was cut out of his car by firefighters and taken to hospital.

However, he did not sustain any serious injuries.

A female passenger travelling in the Transit was also taken to hospital, but was not badly hurt.

Speaking at the scene, PC Sean Todd of Dorset Police said that the Transit was travelling from Wareham Road towards Huntick Road and the Mercedes from Huntick Road towards Poole when the collision happened.

“Three elderly occupants were involved in this two-vehicle road traffic collision,” he said.

“Fortunately, it is not believed that any serious injuries were sustained in the crash.”

Kerry Campbell, whose family owns the Rose and Crown pub, was the first on the scene.

She said: “I went outside to see if I could help.

“The man in the blue car was in shock. He was non-responsive for about five minutes. He wasn’t really talking at all, it was worrying. There was quite a lot of smoke in the car so I opened the door and told him not to worry and that it was just his airbag causing that. I know that when an airbag goes off it can look quite smoky, and I wanted to try and keep him calm.”

Kerry also praised a passing vet who stopped to help.

“She was amazing,” she said.

“She stayed with the man the whole time.”

Kerry said the crash took place after one of the vehicles pulled out from Wareham Road without giving way, hitting the side of the second vehicle before both ploughed into the wall.

And it’s the second time that the wall has been knocked down by a crash when Kerry has lived at the pub.

She said: “About 15 years ago there was another crash in that spot.

“I was living here then, too.”

Police closed the crossroads for around two hours to allow emergency services to deal with the smash.

A spokesperson for South Western Ambulance Services said that two ambulances attended and took the casualties to Poole Hospital for observation.