A PRESTON girl faced a frantic half-hour ride to hospital after a helicopter ambulance was re-directed just six minutes away from the crash.

Lisa Thomas, aged 18, from Fulwood, Preston, was rushed to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital after her red Vauxhall Nova collided with a minibus near Welshpool in Wales.

The air ambulance was on its way to lift the victims to safety when medics were told that staff on the ground were dealing with it.

Passenger Kelly Lang, aged 18 from Wigan, was also rushed to Shrewsbury where she died 12 hours later - the third fatality on the Welshpool bypass in the last two years.

Acting Sergeant Darren Brown, of Powys Police, attended the incident. He said: "The car collided with a Mercedes minibus shortly after ten past nine on Tuesday (May 26) morning. We are investigating the incident."

Lisa is said to have serious injuries and is thought to be extremely ill.

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