Sirens echoed round the Forest as several serious road crashes happened within hours on the same day.

An elderly woman from Mitcheldean suffered a broken arm and other injuries when her car collided with a British Gas van at the crossroads in Broadwell.

The smash happened at around 11.35am last Thursday with police, paramedics, firefighters and an air ambulance called to the scene.

The OAP had to be cut free from the wreckage of her blue Vauxhall Astra and was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital by road ambulance.

The driver of the gas van and the elderly woman's passenger were uninjured.

Later that day a 48-year-old man from Cinderford suffered serious injuries when his car collided head on with a lorry on the Littledean Road in Elton.

The man had to be cut free from his badly damaged Vauxhall Corsa and he was taken to Frenchay Hospital by air ambulance suffering from numerous broken bones.

His condition was serious but not thought to be life threatening.

The lorry driver, a 43-year-old man, was not injured.

The crash happened at 3.45pm and the road was closed for several hours afterward. This caused traffic chaos as queues of traffic got stuck in narrow roads as drivers tried to find alternative routes.

Gareth Davies, landlord of the nearby Greyhound Inn, said: "I was out in the garden at the time and heard a hell of a bang.

"The ambulance crews were here very quickly. I hear there's chaos in Newnham with lorries trying to find another way to get to Cinderford."

Just before the crash in Littledean Road a man in Milkwall was struck by a bin lorry in Edenwall Road and had to be airlifted to hospital.

The 42-year-old from Bream suffered a badly injured foot in the crash which happened at 3.15pm.

He was airlifted to Frenchay Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment for his injuries, which are not life threatening.

Officers are investigating and the incident has been referred to the Health and Safety Executive.

The day of carnage continued later on when a couple in Lydney got a delivery they weren't expecting. Milkmen were delivering the white stuff in Almond Walk at about 8.20pm but their unattended pickup truck starting rolling off down Primrose Way.

It had picked up such a speed when it hit Woodland Rise that it took off when it hit the curb and flew over a flower bed.

It then landed, taking a chunk out of a driveway, before embedding itself in the kitchen wall of Richard and Jane George's house.

The force of the crash sprayed milk all the way up the side of their home and one milk bottle ended up on the roof.

Two fire crews spent an hour working with a local builder to install props and make sure the building wouldn't collapse.

Richard said: "We celebrated 39 years of living in this house last week. Nothing like this has happened to us before."