A MAN was airlifted to hospital on Sunday afternoon with serious injuries after a three-car crash on the A31 near Ringwood.

The road was shut eastbound while emergency crews dealt with the incident, causing severe delays in both directions.

Roads around the area were gridlocked, with those heading out of Dorset on what is traditionally one of the busiest evenings of the week forced to seek other routes.

Alternative routes, such as the A338 towards Salisbury and, in particular, the A35 towards Lyndhurst, were reported as being nose-to-tail as drivers tried to get make their way around the closure.

Traffic on the westbound A31, meanwhile, slowed as drivers looked at the incident on the opposite carriageway.

A spokesman for Hampshire Police said the man, aged in his 20s, had sustained serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.

The crash, which occurred at around 3.30pm in the Picket Post area about half a mile beyond the Burley services, involved a Mini, an Austin and a Land Rover.

A witness, Mike White from Winton, Bournemouth, said: “We were coming back from shopping in Southampton when we got caught in the traffic going the other way.

“When we went past we could see there was a Mini spun around in the fast lane and another car on its roof at the side of the road.

“The emergency crews were there and it all looked very organised; it is reassuring to know they are there to deal with these incidents.

“The traffic was chaos around Ringwood as all the people returning to London were being diverted off at Salisbury.”

The road was completely closed for around two hours, before police managed to reopen one lane.

The other lane remained shut while the vehicles involved in the crash were recovered.