AN EMPTY horsebox crashed on the A339 this afternoon resulting in a three-car pile-up.

An elderly couple had to be cut out of their Ford Fusion which was sandwiched between the horsebox and another car in front, which had also crashed into a vehicle. They were carried out on spinal boards and taken by ambulance to Basingstoke hospital with suspected spinal injuries.

A crew of 11 firefighters from Basingstoke were called to the scene at 12.15pm, between the Rooksdown roundabout and the entrance of Weybrook Park Golf Club.

The road was closed for an hour while the crew spent 40 minutes cutting free the man and woman from the car.

Watch manager John Amos, from Basingstoke fire station, said those in the other three vehicles involved in the accident were not injured. He added: “The horsebox rear-ended the last car which shoved it into another car and another.”