AN man had to be cut from his van today after a head-on collision on a notorious stretch of road.

Steve Brooks, from Oswaldtwistle, was rescued from his Renault Kangoo van and a woman, who has not been named by police, was freed from a Daihatsu Fourtrack vehicle and both were taken to hospital.

The two vehicles are believed to have been travelling towards each other when the accident happened close to the windmills in Long Causeway, Cliviger, at 7am this morning.

A police investigation was being carried out by accident investigators from both Colne and Yorkshire.

A four-mile stretch of the road was closed from the Kettledrum on Red Lees Road for two hours while two fire crews from Burnley and the Incident Support Unit from Accrington, along with ambulance staff carried out a rescue operation.

PC Bob Southward from Colne's road policing unit said: "There have been accidents on this road before, so we would warn people to be careful on this particular stretch of road.

"It has a 60mph speed limit which is quite fast, considering the road style. Both people looked to have quite serious injuries, although they are not through to be life threatening and they were both conscious when they were released from their vehicles.

"They have both been taken to Burnley General Hospital for treatment."

Mr Brooks was said to be in a stable condition.