Basildon fireman warns drivers to be safe during this Christmas period after four crashes in four hours this december

Station Officer Paul Chipperfield said people should go slowly and make sure they get to their destinations safely, despite the stressful time of year.

The first crash the Basildon crews attended was on the A13 between the Pitsea flyover and Sadlers Farm just after 5.30pm.

Two crews from Basildon and two from Rayleigh Weir attended the scene and cut a man in his seventies out of his car.

He had spinal injuries and the firemen put him on a spinalboard  and he was taken to hospital by an ambulance crew.

The second crash the crews went to was just 30m away from the first on the A13.

It was between a silver BMW and another car and a female driver in her thirties also suffered spinal injuries and was taken to hospital for more treatment.

The third crash the crews attended was in Broadmayne, Basildon at 8.45pm and they found that a family people carrier had crashed.

The father and two small children escaped the vehicle but the woman, believed to be the mother, was trapped.

Station Officer Chipperfield said: “The car was on its side when we arrived and the car was also full of Christmas presents.

“We stablised the vehicle and we cut the door of the car off so we could get the lady out safely.

“We put her on a stretcher and she also had lacerations to her arms. She was taken to hospital.”

The crews were then immediantly called to another crash in Sparrows Herne, Basildon at 9.30pm.

A woman in her 20s, believed to be a nurse, had crashed and she was suffering from spinal injuries.

The crews cut the roof of the blue Astra off and the woman was taken to hospital by paramedics who were at the scene.

Mr Chipperfield added: “There is a real road safety message here. Just be careful, all these crashes were all just accidents, just you just don’t know what is going to happen.

“The conditions have been very wet so just drive safely, these were all severe accidents.

“So over the festive season just please be safe and drive slowly, especially in the wet slippery conditions.”