FIREFIGHTERS had to cut free the occupant of a Vauxhall Astra following a two-car smash near East Morton last night.

Five people were involved in the collision on Otley Road between East Morton and the Dick Hudson pub at Eldwick.

Three of them were taken to Airedale Hospital, and their injuries were later described by West Yorkshire Ambulance Service as not serious.

The road was closed for more than three hours following the 7.20pm incident, which involved a blue Ford Focus and a silver Vauxhall Astra.

Andy Quinn, a watch commander at Keighley Fire Station, said crews from Keighley and Bingley were called to the scene.

He said: “We had to cut the roof off one of the cars to remove one of the passengers. The other three had got out before we arrived.

“The driver of the other car had already been released. They were all injured to some extent.”

Police later confirmed there had only been slight injuries.

In a separate incident, two hours later, a lorry hit a tree on Otley Road at the junction with Silk Mill Drive, in the centre of East Morton.

The tree fell on a parked car. No one is believed to have been injured.