A PENSIONER has died after a four-car crash on the A31 at Ringwood last night.

The man in his 70s, who was driving a Daihatsu, was seriously injured in the collision on the A31 near Ringwood, and was later pronounced dead.

No one in the other three cars - two Fords and a Vauxhall - was reported to have been hurt in the crash, which happened at rush hour on the east bound sliproad, near to Waitrose.

Police last night put up white screens around the scene and closed the A31 for most of the night.

Police said the man who died, who was from Surrey, was travelling alone in the car.

Officers are now in the process of informing his next of kin.

Chris Simmonds, 66, from Bransgore, said: “A guy from Waitrose said he heard a bang like a bomb going off.

“He said they were erecting small white tents all along the grass verge.”

The central reservation was damaged during the collision and could not be repaired until the scene had been cleared.

Traffic police were last night photographing and examining four vehicles spaced around 100 yards along the flyover and road.

There were rush hour delays of around an hour and queuing traffic stretching for more than a mile.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to call Sergeant Andy Tester at the Roads Policing Unit at Whitchurch police station, quoting Operation Calvert, on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.