A WOMAN in her 80s was seriously injured in a crash which closed a busy Bournemouth road.

A cordon was in place at the junction of Douglas Mews and Southbourne Road while emergency services dealt with the incident, which they were called to at around 11.55am.

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A spokesman said police were called to reports of a collision between a pedestrian and a car.

The car involved was a silver Fiat Multipla. 

He said initial reports indicated the car had failed to stop at the scene, but police officers located the car and driver a short distance away.

The elderly pedestrian is being treated for serious head and leg injuries, according to Dorset Police.

“The driver is assisting police with their enquiries. No arrests have been made,” the spokesman added.

There were six marked police cars on the scene at the height of the incident.

Road closures were put in place, and an officer told the Daily Echo at the scene that the road would be shut “for some time”.

Dorset Traffic Police later tweeted to say it would be closed for the “foreseeable future” to vehicles.

Southbourne Road re-opened just after 3pm – around three hours after police were called to the scene.

Dale Courtney, a driver for Morebus, witnessed the incident.

He said: “I was parked up at the bus stop waiting to switch over when it happened. I saw the car reverse and hit the lady, who was already lying in the road.

“I got out and stood in the road as I was wearing a high-vis jacket and called an ambulance. They arrived less than 10 minutes later. A few other people had stopped to help in the meantime, and the lady was conscious.

“As a bus driver, you see a few accidents in your career, but I’ve never witnessed anything like this. It was very unpleasant,” he added.

Mr Courtney, and the bus he was driving, had to remain within the police cordon for around two hours while police carried out their investigations.

Southbourne Road resident Austen Sambrook said he was only alerted to the crash after hearing “a lot of sirens”.

“When I looked outside, I could see a lot of buses were queuing up. I thought it was odd, so I stuck my head over the fence, and loads more police kept coming.  “The police officer told me there had been an accident. I’m shocked to hear a pedestrian is involved,” he added.

A spokesman for South West Ambulance said they were called at 11.42am and attended with one rapid response vehicle and one ambulance.

They said a woman with leg injuries had been taken to Poole Hospital.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting incident number 26:134.

Alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or via crimestoppers-uk.org.