A40 CLOSED Carnage As Up To 20 Cars Involved In Crashes In West Oxfordshire

Two crashes took place on a 1000m stretch of road, which was covered in ice and shrouded by heavy fog.

One crash happened leading to car backing up in traffic before a more serious crash in the middle of the traffic.

The “very icy” road is closed between Witney and Burford Road, with traffic queuing for a mile and a half.

Six vehicles are believed to have suffered significant damage and a further 10 to 15 with minor damage.

Three ambulances, three rapid response vehicles, two officers and the air ambulance remain at the scene after the first call to emergency services was received at 8.22am this morning.

Lorry driver Ben Starkey, who witnessed the horrific incident unfold, said: "It happened just further ahead of me. The road conditions were quite bad. It was snowy and icy.

"I pulled to a stop. There were two vehicles facing my but on further inspection I could see two cars had gone into the back of each other.

"There was a vehicle screwed up with dents all over and a lady on the floor in a serious condition.

"There was further destruction behind me. At the moment I would say there's around 10 cars in front of me and six or seven behind me. Most of them are cars. There's a lot of debris on the floor."

A police spokesman said: “Officers were called today at about 8.25am following reports of a collision involving multiple vehicles on the A40, Witney.

“Officers are at the scene along with the fire and rescue services. A number of people are believed to have been injured.

“Road closures are currently in place and drivers are advised to avoid the area.”

It is unknown exactly how many people have been injured as yet, but ambulance services are at the scene.

A spokesman for the ambulance service told the Oxford Mail: “We think there at least four collisions. We are trying to work through exactly where people are.

“There are multiple vehicles in multiple accidents and a number of people have been seriously injured.”