Villagers rallied round to help a group of travellers after one of them was injured when a car collided with a horsedrawn caravan.

The man in his late 40s was seriously injured in the collision, which happened on the A4 at Cherhill on Saturday, and he was airlifted to Swindon’s Great Western Hospital.

He was leading the horse drawing the caravan carrying a woman and two young children, and was followed by a second woman, guiding a horse and trap with another man cycling alongside.

At 3.39pm, just as the group entered Cherhill, they were hit from behind by a blue Nissan 100. The car struck the horse and trap, which collided with the first caravan, hitting the man leading it.

He was treated at the scene by members of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Calne First Responders and a passing doctor before he was airlifted.

Police closed the road in both directions and a local vet was called to treat the horse leading the caravan. Sadly, the horse, called Rogue, was so badly injured it had to be put down on Tuesday.

Both the children inside the caravan were unharmed, but the group was left homeless and without transport because their caravan was smashed.

This week villagers have rallied round to provide tents, water and food for the group, and farmer Andrew Ainslie offered a field for them to camp.

Angela Welch, 61, from Park Lane, said her husband had taken supplies to them as soon as he heard of the accident.

She said: “It almost made me cry when I heard that the horse had died. It’s their livelihood and that horse was their life. Fortunately people do rally round when things like this happen.”

Other well-wishers have taken the group to see the injured man in hospital in Swindon, where he will have reconstructive surgery on his knees. They have also collected £240 from people in the village over the last two days, to help towards the cost of the damage.

Barbara Raven, the parish clerk for Cherhill, said the villagers had showed a great deal of community spirit after the accident.

She said: “They have been wonderful in their response; there have been so many people involved.”

The travellers, who did not want to be named, said: “We would like to thank the village of Cherhill for all their help and support. The whole community came together to ensure that our families were safe so we could start re-building our lives.

“The response shown to us and our lifestyle has been phenomenal. We can’t thank you enough.

“We would also like to thank the vet who was amazing with her treatment of our Rogue and towards us.”