THREE people were taken to hospital with serious injuries after a head-on collision that shut a Dorset road for seven hours.

Emergency services were called to the Higher Blandford Road at Limberlost at around 7.50pm on Saturday after a silver Subaru Legacy and a white Ford Escort collided.

The 39-year-old male driver of the Escort and his 21-year-old female front-seat passenger suffered serious injuries and were taken to Poole Hospital.

The Subaru driver, a 22-year-old man from Blandford, suffered serious leg injuries, while his four passengers, including his pregnant 22-year-old girlfriend, her two-year-old son and another girl and boy, both aged 16, had minor injuries.