A Falmouth teenager suffered serious injuries to her head and pelvis after a four-way road smash at Perranarworthal yesterday (Tuesday).

The 19-year-old had to be cut free from her Peugeot 107, which ended up in the garden of the Riverside Cottage Bed and Breakfast following the crash at 7.30am.

She was airlifted to Derriford Hospital by a Sea King helicopter from RNAS Culdrose.

Three vans - a VW Transporter, a Renault Trafic and a Nissan Primastar – were also involved in the collision, which took place in the Truro-bound carriageway of the A39 near the Norway Inn.

Extensive delays blighted the area all morning and a section of the road remained closed to traffic for nearly five hours.

Officers from the Serious Collisions Investigation Team were still on site yesterday afternoon carrying out “a detailed investigation” according to a police spokesperson.

Eyewitness David Brenchley he said he was awoken by two loud “thuds” or “thumps”.

He said: “I heard the bang and looked out of the window.

“It made two big ‘thumps’ and I wondered at first if it was a lorry going by with a loose load.

“When I looked out the window I could see it was two cars that had collided. I couldn’t see the car because it was right round in my neighbour’s front garden.”

The junction where the accident took place is close to David’s house and has proved something of an accident blackspot in the past.

“It’s always been known as a dangerous turning,” he said.

“People are always trying to get in and out of there against the traffic flow and it’s going to be made considerably worse when the development at The Foundry is finished.”