Two people were cut free from their car and an injured woman in her 80s was airlifted to hospital after a multiple-vehicle collision at the weekend.

Herts Police were called to the A5183 Dunstable Road in Redbourn at 1.24pm last Saturday, October 29, following reports of a road traffic collision.

Officers later arrested a woman from Harpenden, aged in her 50s, on suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol. She remains in police custody at this time.

Three vehicles were involved in the collision – a blue Skoda Octavia, a silver Renault Clio and a blue Renault Clio.

A spokeswoman for the East of England Ambulance Service Trust said that paramedics arrived at the scene of the collision within seven minutes of the emergency service being called.

Two more ambulances arrived afterwards, as it was initially reported that five patients had to be treated.

Paramedics cared for three people at the crash site, and once the woman in her 80s had been freed from her vehicle, the Herts Air Ambulance flew her to the Royal London Hospital.

The other two patients were taken for treatment at Luton and Dunstable Hospital.

There are no details of the extent of the trio’s injuries, but it is understood that the woman in her 80s who was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries remains in a serious but stable condition.

A spokeswoman for St Albans Fire Station said that local firefighters attended the collision alongside crews from Hemel Hempstead.

A specialist rescue support unit was sent from St Albans, with those who were trapped in vehicles given trauma care by firefighters, who freed them from the crashed cars with hydraulic cutting equipment.

There were long traffic tailbacks as the road was not reopened until just after 7pm.