A WOMAN was seriously injured when she was trapped for 30 minutes in a Reliant Robin after a road accident in Rossendale.

The busy Burnley Road through Weir village, between Bacup and Burnley, was closed for more than three hours while emergency services attended to Pauline Oxley, 45, of Waterbarn Street, Burnley.

The car had collided with the back of a parked Scania heavy goods vehicle.

Firefighters from Bacup used cutting equipment to free Mrs Oxley from the front passenger seat and she was taken to Burnley General Hospital with serious head injuries.

She was transferred to Royal Preston Hospital's intensive care unit where her condition was today described as "stable".

Mrs Oxley's daughter Rebecca, 24, also of Waterbarn Street, was a rear seat passenger and the car was driven by Barry Edwards, 29, of March Street, Burnley. Both received facial cuts but were allowed home after treatment at Burnley General.

Police said a third vehicle, a Rover 1600 driven by Stephen Carr, 52, of Philips Road, Weir, was involved in the accident, but Mr Carr was not injured.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.