Two people have been left hospitalised after a crash on the A346 at Ogbourne St George closed the road between Swindon and Marlborough for over six hours.
The crash, which took place just before 11am on Tuesday, March 12, was originally reported by Wiltshire Police to be a two-vehicle crash, but Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service later confirmed that four vehicles were involved.
All emergency services were called to attend the scene just before the Ogbourne junction, including three ambulances, a critical care car, police and firefighters.
One casualty had to be freed from their car using hydraulic cutting equipment.
"We received a call at 10.57am this morning about a road traffic collision on the A346 near Ogbourne St George and Ogbourne St Andrew," said a spokesperson for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service.
"Crews from Swindon and Stratton attended the incident which involved four vehicles - firefighters freed one casualty using small tools and hydraulic cutting equipment."
A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service added:
"We sent three double-crewed land ambulances, an operations officer and a critical care car and conveyed two patients by land ambulances to Great Western Hospital.”
The road closure caused queues to form all the way along the A346 as traffic chaos ensued and buses were diverted.
Several eye-witnesses and motorists who were stuck in traffic have commented on the scene they saw, but it remains unclear what caused the vehicles to crash.
"It took 40 min to get to Marlborough from Chiseldon. Parked cars in Ogbourne St George were causing problems with all the traffic diverted that way," said one motorist.
"It’s blocked all the way to Chiseldon, they’re sending everyone through Aldbourne," added another.
One motorist said it took her one hour to get from Bay Bridges to Hallam.
"We are stuck in Ogbourne St Andrew and nothing is moving. Not sure what’s going on," she said.
The A346 remained closed until approximately 5.15pm on Tuesday, over six hours after the initial crash took place.
Many locals are now calling for action on the A346, declaring the road as 'dangerous' and an 'accident hotspot'.
This comes after another crash on the same road just three days earlier which saw a 12-year-old passenger taken to Bristol Children's Hospital with "serious injuries".
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