POLICE are looking for the driver of a silver Volvo V70 car after a crash on the M50 left the woman driver of a flowery-coloured VW Beetle with life-changing injuries.

A ten-mile stretch of the motorway was closed for five hours following the rush-hour incident at 5.45pm on Monday (September 17) when the VW left the carriageway near the A417 Gloucester turnoff.

An air ambulance attended and the woman driver was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.

It was the first of three serious accidents on the same stretch of road this week, with the M50 closed overnight after a serious collision involving a van and an HGV lorry on Wednesday evening between Ross-on-Wye and the Newent B4221 turn off, and a car hitting the central reservation near the same location around 6.45am today.

West Mercia Police have released photos of the two cars involved in Monday’s crash, and have appealed for witnesses.

A force spokesperson said: “It happened on the westbound carriageway between Junctions 1 and 2 at around 5.45pm, and involved a silver Volvo V70 and a blue VW Beetle.

“A woman was left with life-changing injuries and airlifted to hospital. Police are particularly keen to locate the driver of the Volvo V70.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact West Mercia Police on 101 quoting incident number 548 of 17 September, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A stretch of the M50 was closed for nearly five hours overnight after another collision involving a van and a HGV at around 10.50pm last night (Wednesday, September 19) between junctions 3 and 4.

The motorway was fully reopened by 3.45am this morning (Thursday, September 20).

Only three hours later, another car was reported to have hit the central reservation blocking lane two of the westbound motorway at the same B4221 junction.