Two people were seriously injured after their cars were in a head-on collision on the A133 at Little Bentley.

Firefighters had to cut one of the victims from the wreckage of his vehicle. The road was closed for several hours as emergency services worked to clear the scene.

Police, ambulance and fire crews from Clacton and Colchester were called to the accident just before 8am on Saturday.

A Peugeot 205 and a Ford Escort collided head-on and ended up on the grass verge a short distance from the Shell garage.

Peugeot driver Christine Evans, 31, of Thoroughgood Road, Clacton, who was travelling towards Colchester, suffered serious leg injuries and a head injury in the accident.

She was described as comfortable in Colchester General Hospital today.

Steven East, 43, of Suffolk Road, Holland-on-Sea, was driving towards Clacton when the accident happened.

He had to be freed from his Ford Escort by firefighters and also suffered serious leg injuries.

A small fire in Mr East's vehicle had been extinguished by passing motorists before emergency services arrived.

His condition was today described as comfortable.

The crash comes just over a year after a couple from Clacton died in a crash on the same stretch of road.

Derryck Kelly , 55, and his partner, Jasmine Joseph, 32, of St John's Road, died last January when their car collided with another vehicle at the same bend.

After the accident, Essex county and Tendring district councillor Roy Smith called for an immediate investigation into the stretch of road, saying he felt the only answer was a dual-carriageway.

Police have appealed for crash witnesses to contact PC Pete Bareham at Thorpe traffic police on 01255 861455.

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