A DRIVER has been arrested on suspicion of drug driving after a two car crash left two Barrow residents with serious injuries.

The accident happened on a stretch of the A590 outside of the Newby Bridge service station at approximately 1pm on Saturday.

The road was closed off for a number of hours between the Newby Bridge roundabout and the Meathop roundabout while emergency services tended to the scene.

The driver of a Toyota, a 19-year-old man from Liverpool, who was uninjured in the collision, was arrested on suspicion of drug driving and subsequently released under investigation.

The driver of a Mercedes, a Barrow man in his 70s, was taken to Furness General Hospital with serious injuries.

A passenger in the vehicle, a woman in her 60s, was taken by air ambulance to Royal Preston Hospital after she suffered serious injuries.

British Transport Police later tweeted: “One of our #Lancaster-based student officers, single-crewed, was first on scene at a serious RTC in #Cumbria.

“Faced with some traumatic injuries he tended to casualties until more units arrived, including the #AirAmbulance.”

A spokesperson for the North West Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 13:36 to an RTC in the Newby Bridge area on 13 June.

“We sent a number of resources including three land ambulances and air ambulance.

“We assessed a number of patients on scene and took two patients to hospital.”