A Frome lorry driver has been left with serious injuries after a crash so horrific that witnesses in Shepton Mallet had to be treated for shock.

Shortly before 7am last Thursday morning – and in pitch black – two heavy goods vehicles crashed on the bend at the bottom of Doulting Hill, on the outskirts of Shepton Mallet.

The first emergency services to arrive said it was one of the most appalling scenes they had ever encountered.

The 36-year-old driver of one of the HGVs, named as Richard Locke of Frome, had been thrown from his cab and lost a foot in the impact and also suffered other multiple injuries.

The collision was so great one of the cabs was left flipped into the air with debris strewn across a wide area.

Shepton fire chief Graham Brown said it was a shocking scene with the twisted metal, in the dark, looking like a crashed aircraft.

Mr Locke was flown to Frenchay Hospital, in Bristol, where at first his condition was described as critical.

On going to press, a hospital spokesman said Mr Locke was in a stable condition in the intensive care unit.

The driver of the other lorry was treated at the scene for lacerations to the face and trauma before being taken by ambulance to Bath's Royal United Hospital.

The driver of a third HGV – which was not involved in the crash – and a woman car driver were also treated at the scene for shock.

Mr Brown said: "There was considerable debris. One lorry was on its side with most of the cab and the engine missing and strewn about the road.

"At first I thought an aircraft had come down. It was dark when we arrived. There was a lot of diesel oil and fuel about on the road and lots of overspill into the fields.

"There were four HGVs at the scene but only two collided."

Three fire engines from Shepton, Wells and Glastonbury and four ambulances attended the crash, along with the police.

Fire crews made the scene safe before leaving the rest of the recovery operation to the police.

The busy A361 was closed for 36 hours to allow a police investigation and for the clear-up operation.

It is the second HGV crash to take place on the stretch of the A361 in just over two weeks. A 42-year-old lorry driver was killed in a head-on collision in East Cranmore at 6.52am on November 23, near the entrance of the Torr Works quarry.

Police are appealing for information about last week's crash. Anyone who can help can call the police collision investigation unit on 0845 456 7000 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.