A YOUNG woman was airlifted to hospital with ‘life-changing’ leg injuries after a crash near Poole Civic Centre.

The 18-year-old Poole pedestrian was flown to Southampton General Hospital after a collision involving a car on Commercial Road.

Dorset Police and paramedics were called to the scene at around 11am. The woman received on-the-spot treatment by paramedics before she was transferred to the air ambulance, which landed in nearby Poole Park.

At first police fully closed the road near the traffic light junction, then later they cordoned off one lane while investigations continued.

The crash involved the female pedestrian and a silver Mazda car, registered to a man from the Bournemouth area.

Specially-trained Dorset Police crash investigators remained on scene for some time afterwards, while they carried out a full investigation into how the incident happened.

No-one else was injured in the crash, but long delays were reported in the immediate area – with traffic backing up into Ashley Cross village for more than an hour-and-a-half.

One witness to the aftermath told the Daily Echo: “I couldn’t see the person injured but there were lots of police and ambulance people helping them. “When you see the police out doing their measurements like this afterwards, you know it’s been quite a serious one.

Footage by Brian Haddow

“Hopefully the woman will make a full recovery. I wish her all the best.”

A Dorset Police officer told the Echo at the scene that she could confirm a serious road traffic accident had taken place and that a full investigation had been launched.

Witnesses to the incident or the manner of driving of the vehicle prior to the crash are asked to call PC 2342 Henstridge on 101, quoting crime number C15C10208.