TWO elderly women were taken to hospital after a car crash on the A127 on Wednesday, which caused lunchtime tailbacks.

Emergency services were called at 12.35pm to the Southend-bound carriageway, between Brentwood and Laindon, after the driver of a white Vauxhall Corsa lost control on the slip road near the Halfway House and Little Chef.

Firefighters had to free the woman driver, 74, who suffered facial and leg injuries. Her passenger, also in her seventies, was treated by a paramedic after complaining of chest pains.

The air ambulance was called and landed in a field nearby, before taking the driver to Queens Hospital, Romford. Her passenger was taken there by ambulance.

One lane of the road was closed until 2.25pm.