A POLICE constable is recovering in hospital today after a horrific crash on the A12.

A POLICE constable is recovering in hospital today after a horrific crash on the A12.

The British Transport Police officer was in a marked police vehicle, which was in collision with a van on the Colchester-bound stretch at Holton St Mary at around 8am yesterday.

He is believed to be Ipswich based officer Gary Pomroy, 50, from St Osyth, near Clacton-on-Sea.

He suffered serious neck and back injuries in the collision and had to be cut free from his Renault Laguna by firefighters.

It was originally thought his injuries were “potentially life changing” but a spokeswoman for Suffolk police said he is not as badly hurt as first feared.

A spokesman for the British Transport Police said it was likely the officer would be discharged from Ipswich Hospital in the next couple of days.

The accident caused gridlock during the A12 morning rush hour - with traffic queuing as far back as the Copdock Interchange.

Paramedics were forced to lift the officer - who was conscious as he was being treated at the scene - out of the car and took him to Heath Road under police escort.

He was not on an emergency call at the time of the accident and there was no one else in the Renault Laguna when the crash happened.

The male driver of the van is not believed to have sustained injuries in the collision, which closed the London-bound carriageway until 10am.

Meanwhile, a second crash caused further chaos on the A12 earlier yesterday morning just before 7am.

It happened on the Ipswich-bound stretch of road, near to East Bergholt, and involved a lorry and van. The road was closed while the damaged vehicles were recovered from the scene and reopened at 9.40am.