A WOMAN driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries following a collision at a notorious accident blackspot earlier today.

The motorist, who has not been named, was rushed unconscious to Blackburn Royal Infirmary after the smash in Billinge End Road, Blackburn, just after 8.30am.

The road was closed for around an hour at the height of rush hour as emergency workers struggled to clear the scene.

Three other people, including two children, were also taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Fire crews had to cut the woman free from her Volkswagen car after it overturned following a collision with a BMW near the junction with Buncer Lane.

Blackburn Fire Brigade station officer Dave Allan said: "The BMW hit a wall and a tree and the VW overturned. The female driver of the car was trapped and we freed her using cutting equipment in liaison with paramedics.

"Two airbags in the BMW were inflated and the occupants seemed to be suffering from shock."

Mr Keith Snape, who lives in Billinge End Road, Blackburn, said residents had been campaigning for traffic-calming measures since last autumn, when they sent a petition to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.

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