MOTORISTS travelling towards Bournemouth were delayed by around 45 minutes after a crash on the A31 this afternoon.

The incident, which occurred just before 4pm at the westbound turn-off for Verwood, involved two vehicles - a grey Ford Galaxy and a yellow Ford Ka.

Hampshire police were called to the scene at 3.48pm and helped to divert traffic around the outside two lanes blocked by the vehicles.

No one was injured but there was some debris in the road.

It caused long delays for those travelling westbound, with heavy delays all the way into the New Forest at the junction for Emery Down and Linwood.

There were also reports of heavy traffic at Ringwood town centre and for those travelling southbound along the A338 Salisbury Road towards the A31.

The road reopened at around 5.20pm after both vehicles were recovered.