AN ELDERLY Calstock man was airlifted to hospital after being cut free from his vehicle following a road traffic accident on the old A30 between Lewdown and Bridestowe last week.
Two vehicles were involved in the accident, which occurred at 11.35am on Thursday, December 18. A Land Rover towing a trailer laden with a mini excavator owned by a company from Bodmin, was heading towards Lewdown when it was in collision with a Peugeot 406 estate car travelling in the opposite direction.
Two fire appliances from Okehampton arrived at the scene and conducted a careful operation using power rescue tools to free the Peugeot driver who was severely trapped in his vehicle. It took firefighters around 25 minutes to free the trapped man from the vehicle.
The 82-year-old man from Calstock was kept in Derriford Hospital overnight for observation. There was some initial concern due to his age, but his injuries are not life threatening and consist of bruising and a fractured hip.
The driver of the Land Rover was a 34-year-old man from Bodmin who attended hospital with minor injuries.
Police, ambulance and air ambulance attended the scene of the accident, and the road was closed for several hours while investigations were carried out, with a diversion through Bridestowe village put in place. The road was re-opened late on Thursday night.