A SERIOUS crash left the road between Minehead and Porlock closed for a number of hours.

The crash happened on the A39 near Whitecross Lane on Venniford Hill around 3.40pm yesterday (Monday, April 24) and involved two cars.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said: "We received a call at 3.36pm to reports of a two vehicle road traffic collision.

"We treated five patients in total, four adults and one child, and all were taken to Musgrove Park Hospital.

"We attended with three ambulances and one rapid response vehicle."

Avon and Somerset Police said two people were being treated for lower back injuries and another for a leg injury but the injuries 'were not thought to be life-threatening or life-changing'.

A spokesman for Minehead Fire Station said: "At 3:55pm one appliance from Minehead and one from Porlock attended a two vehicle RTC at Headon Cross on the A39 just outside of Minehead.

"Crews arrived to find two persons trapped in one vehicle and three other casualties from the second vehicle that had self-released.

"Crews used two sets of dedicated cutting equipment to release the occupants trapped.

"The road remained closed for some time but is now open.

"Please drive with extreme caution over the next few days on the A39 at Headon Cross due to oil and fluids.

"Although Highways have treated it, the surface will remain slippery and with the next rainfall due, it is likely to be slippery for some time. Always drive to suit the conditions.

"When fire crews left the scene at around 7pm, all of the occupants from both vehicles were being treated in hospital.

"We cannot comment on the condition of any casualty or the cause.

Buses were also left seriously delayed, with two services being suspended and school buses forced to return to Minehead, with parents being asked to come in and pick up their children in cars that could get through the diversion.

Head of the West Somerset Academies Trust, Paul Rushforth, speaking at 6pm yesterday, said: "We have had to phone round the parents and get them to come and pick up the children.

"Where we have been unable to get hold of them we have found links with friends, and the majority have now been picked up.

"The ambulances have been up and down frequently this afternoon, it is obvious something serious has happened."