Five cars in pile up (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Five cars in pile up

Firefighters and paramedics work to free one of the motorists trapped in the wreckage of his carEIGHT people were taken to hospital after a five-car pile-up caused traffic chaos at rush hour.

The roof had to be cut from one vehicle to free the driver who suffered a neck injury.

The accident happened at the Mannington roundabout on Great Western Way just before 4pm yesterday and the road was blocked for more than an hour while the emergency services cleared the wreckage.

Police say that all the people involved were lucky to escape without more serious injuries.

As well as causing a build up at the Mannington roundabout, the smash also led to chaos at junction 16 of the M4 as traffic came to a standstill.

Police suspect the accident happened when a van ploughed in to the back of a Volkswagen Golf.

A Ford Mondeo estate, a Vauxhall Astra and a pizza delivery van were also caught up in the crash.

PC Mark Green, of Swindon traffic police, said: "They removed the roof from the Golf as a precaution.

"The driver was taken to hospital with a neck injury but it is not believed to be serious.

"It appears the Ford Transit van has gone in to the back of the Golf and it has had a knock-on effect.

"It's caused absolute chaos at the junction for the motorway.

"In view of the circumstances it's pretty fortunate no-one was seriously injured."

A spokeswoman for the Wiltshire ambulance service confirmed that eight people had been taken to hospital.

None of them is believed to have serious injuries.

Ian Levy, 26, was walking home from the town centre to Middleleaze minutes after the accident.

He said: "As I was walking I saw the police speed past me and then I saw all the cars piled up.

"It was a hell of a mess. The firemen came and had to cut the roof off to get one man out. They were really quick they got it off in minutes.

"There seemed to be loads of them that had to go to hospital."

Twelve firefighters attended the accident and helped rescue the driver from the Golf.

Gareth Bethell