THREE children were rushed to hospital and one female treated by ambulance staff after a family of five were trapped in a car after a severe crash on the M5.

The three children were taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children with "serious but not life changing injuries", a police spokesman has said.

One female also received treatement at the scene from South Western Ambulance Service.

Two fire engines from Burnham-on-Sea and one from Bridgwater were called to the two car crash between junction 22 and junction 21 shortly before 1pm on Saturday (July 30).

On arrival the fire crews found a family of five, two adults and three children, were still trapped inside one of the cars.

The fire crews worked with police and ambulance crews to release the family from the vehicle.

Crews used vehicle stabilisation equipment, glass management equipment and cutting gear to release the casualties, who were passed over to paramedics.

Fire crews also made the vehicles safe, and duty of care of the scene was left with the police.

The road was partly closed for an hour following the crash, and traffic queued for nine miles with waiting times of up to 40 minutes.

As well as the delays following the crash, there were reports of slow traffic and congestion between junction 21 for Weston-super-Mare and junction 24 for Bridgwater South.

As well as these delays, there were also earlier reports of a disruption at junction 24 of M5 for the A38 with queuing on the exit slip road on M5 northbound.

There have also been huge delays on M5 southbound with stop start traffic from junction 14 in Gloucestershire down to junction 22 near Burnham.

Traffic has now returned to normal.