A MAN suffered a serious head injury and was left in a critical condition after a crash near Blackburn yesterday.

He had been travelling in a van with four other people in Elton Road near the M65 junction five roundabout shortly before 9am when the vehicle collided with a pick-up truck.

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The man was trapped in the van for around 40 minutes while the emergency services freed him and took him to Royal Preston Hospital for treatment.

He remained in a serious but stable condition in hospital last night.

The road, a busy commuter link, was closed by police until shortly before 1pm while the air ambulance, two ambulances, a rapid response vehicle as well as police cars and two fire engines attended the scene.

Two other passengers in the van were hurt but their injuries were not thought to be serious.

One of them was taken to Royal Preston Hospital while the other was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital.

A spokesman for the police said: “A man sustained a major head injury and was in a critical condition following the incident.

“Firefighters cut a section of the roof of the van off to get to him.

“He was then taken to the hospital where he received treatment and his injuries are now thought not to be life threatening.”

An investigation has now been launched into the cause of the collision.

The driver of the truck and the two other passengers in the van were not injured.

The road was closed at the Blackburn and Haslingden ends with cars being diverted on to different routes, causing delays.

The air ambulance was called to the scene but was released to attend other incidents.

A spokeswoman for the North West Ambulance Service said: “One of the three people taken to hospital has been classified as having major trauma.

“The other two people have minor injuries.

“We do not currently have any further information on the patients such as their ages.”