A WOMAN pedestrian suffered serious head injuries today after being involved in a collision with a car.It was the latest incident in a chaotic 12 hours on the county's roads which saw the A14 gridlocked for several hours.

A WOMAN pedestrian suffered serious head injuries today after being involved in a collision with a car.

It was the latest incident in a chaotic 12 hours on the county's roads which saw the A14 gridlocked for several hours.

And comes on the day a new 50mph speed limit for the Orwell Bridge was proposed and Suffolk County Council leader Bryony Rudkin was in London meeting transport minister David Jamieson to discuss the region's roads problems.

A woman, believed to be in her late 40s, was left with serious head injuries after an accident at London Road, Ipswich, but emergency services could not say whether the incident was linked to the ice and snow making driving conditions treacherous.

The pedestrian was in collision with a car at approximately 8.10am, close to the entrance to Chantry Park.

Ambulance and police crews attended the scene and took the woman to the accident and emergency department at Ipswich Hospital.

London Road was closed and diversions set up while accident investigations took place.

Anne Marie Breach, police spokesman, said: "We had a few minor incidents because of the road conditions very early on this morning, around 1am.

"Other than that -bearing in mind we are unsure at this stage of the cause of the London Road accident - there doesn't appear to be any serious incidents."

Yesterday's chaos on the A14 began with a lorry and a 4x4 car which were involved in a collision at 3.26pm.

The red Man lorry jack-knifed and both the lorry and the car, a green Grand Cherokee, went through the central reservation.

Both vehicles had been travelling towards Felixstowe but the A14 was blocked in both directions following the crash.

The second incident happened near to the Orwell Bridge and involved two cars.

A silver Ford Escort and a silver Vauxhall Cavalier collided near to the Nacton turn off at 4.45pm.

This time, the cars were both travelling toward Ipswich.

It is not believed there was any injuries sustained in either crash but there were long delays in both directions throughout the afternoon.

At approximately 7.20pm, a car and lorry were in collision on the A14, close to the Copdock roundabout.

Ambulance crews were called and took two patients to hospital - a female suffering head injuries and a male whose injuries are unknown.

The vehicles were travelling on the Ipswich-bound carriageway.

Accidents have seen the road closed four times in little over a month, with police left with no alternative but to divert traffic through Ipswich.

Although traffic could still pass across the road many commuters opted to divert through Ipswich.

Emergency crews were also called to the A12 - Suffolk's other major road - after a three-vehicle crash at Wickham Market.

The fire service used hydraulic rescue equipment to free two people after the accident, on the north-bound carriageway at approximately midnight.

Three ambulance crews and three fire crews attended and two casualties were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Two cars were involved in a crash near Barclays Bank, Woodbridge Road, Ipswich, at 8pm yesterday.

Two ambulance crews attended and a male was taken to hospital complaining of neck pain.

A motorcyclist came off her bike at the junction of Felixstowe Road and Murray Road in Ipswich at 11.40pm.

The woman, in her early 20s, was taken to hospital.