TWO people were taken to hospital after a three-car collision.

A 71-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were hurt in the accident in Broadmead Road, Woodford Green.

The incident at 4.30pm yesterday was at the traffic island opposite Sir James Hawkey Hall, at the junction with Broomhill Road.

The accident involved a red Nissan Micra, which had its roof cut off by firefighters, a blue Volkswagon Golf GT Sport and a silver Peugeot saloon.

The road was closed off between the A104 and Broomhill Road for more than an hour and the smash was about 100 metres from an accident blackspot.

Broadmead Road residents living just past the Grosvenor Gardens turning called for action in September after the latest in a string of accidents on the road.

Residents said there had been seven nasty crashes in two years outside their homes and they warned it will only be a matter of time before someone is killed.

A spokeswoman for the London Ambulance Service said the man and the woman were both taken to Whipps Cross Hospital.

The 71-year-old man was treated for chest and neck pain and the 20-year-old woman was treated for back and neck pain.

Rachel Mulvey, 52, lives yards from the accident.

She said she was not home to witness the incident but claimed pedestrian safety could be improved in the area by a zebra crossing being installed at the end of Broomhill Road.

She said: "I wrote to the council because where Broomhill Road meets Broadmead Road it is very busy in the mornings.

"You can't get across the road because of school traffic, it needs a crossing."

In the accident on September 28, the driver of a black Mazda TS lost control of the car and it crossed the road smashing into a telegraph pole.

Neither the man behind the wheel or his passenger, a woman in her late 20s, were seriously hurt.

A spokeswoman for Redbridge Council said: "The prioritisation process takes into account the numbers of personal injury accidents over the last three years, followed by vehicle speeds and volumes relative to those expected for the class of road.

"Currently, the works requested by residents in Broadmead Road do not have a sufficiently high priority to be progressed within the funds available for this work but this will continue to be reviewed annually and the position may change.

"Unfortunately the Council faces very difficult financial pressures and is not able to progress as many road safety schemes as it would wish."