AN elderly man died last night after the car he was travelling in collided with a fire service van.The crash happened on the A120 Wix bypass, near Harwich, at 5.

By Danielle Nuttall

AN elderly man died last night after the car he was travelling in collided with a fire service van.

The crash happened on the A120 Wix bypass, near Harwich, at 5.35pm as the vehicles travelled in opposite directions.

Paramedics and an emergency doctor attended the accident but the victim, who is believed to be from the Tendring area, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Clinical Operations Manager John Nicholls, from the East of England Ambulance Service, said: “Unfortunately there was simply nothing that could be done to save the elderly man in the car. He was confirmed dead at the scene by the doctor.

“The man in the van was uninjured but was clearly very upset by what had happened. He was checked over at the scene but chose not to go to hospital. He was taken home by family members.”

The car involved in the crash suffered severe front end damage while the van was badly damaged at the front.

A spokeswoman for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service confirmed last night an employee of the service had been driving the van.

“Firefighters have attended a serious crash on the A120 between Horsley Cross and Harwich,” she said.

“The crash was between a car and a transit van. One person has been confirmed fatally injured at the scene. The other person has been treated at the scene by paramedics.

“We can confirm that the uninjured driver is an employee of Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and was driving home in the transit van owned by the service at the time of the crash.”

nA mother was killed yesterday after a lorry collided with the car she was in with her seven-year-old daughter.

The accident happened on the Colchester-bound carriageway between Webbs Farm and Howe Green, near Chelmsford at about 1.20pm. An ambulance spokesman said the woman's car was stationary at the time of the collision, in tailbacks from a previous accident.

Essex Police confirmed last night a man had been arrested in connection with the accident.

East of England Ambulance manager Roland Chesney said the woman's daughter was helped from the car by a member of the public but did not need to go to hospital. The victim has not been named yet.

A man and woman in a second car that was involved, thought to be in their late 40s or early 50s, were taken to Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, for minor injuries.

The accident that triggered the tailbacks happened on the London-bound carriage of the A12 close to the junction with the B1007 at Galleywood at 12.05pm. A car left the road and hit a tree before ending up in bushes.

The driver of the vehicle, a 32-year-old man from Surrey, suffered internal injuries as well as an injury his head. He was airlifted to Southend Hospital in a critical condition.

The fellow passenger, a 36-year-old Braintree woman, suffered a chest injury and a possible dislocation of her right hip. She was taken to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford and was reported to be in a stable condition last night.