A WOMAN is in a stable condition in hospital today following a horror crash in which an elderly man was killed.

A WOMAN is in a stable condition in hospital today following a horror crash in which an elderly man was killed.

An investigation is under way following the crash on the A12 at Woodbridge which saw a Ford Fiesta collide with a Mitsubishi Shogun.

It came as sub-zero temperatures over the weekend produced treacherous driving conditions which also saw a 15-year-old girl killed in a crash near to the Suffolk-Norfolk border.

Roads were hazardous again today as thick layers of frost formed overnight.

Police today said the woman involved in the A12 collision, which happened at around 2.30pm yesterday afternoon near the junction for the Seckford Hall Hotel, is understood to remain in a stable condition and is improving in hospital.

Firefighters had to use specialist cutting equipment to reach the elderly couple, who are believed to be from the local area, from their Ford Fiesta.

Nobody in the Mitsubishi was injured.

Their car had collided with a Mitsubishi Shogun, which was travelling north on the A12, as it joined the road at Seckford.

Three ambulance vehicles attended the scene but paramedics could do nothing to help the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman was taken to Ipswich Hospital with breathing difficulties and suspected internal injuries.

Long queues of traffic built up around the scene of the crash, stretching back to the junction with the A1214 at Martlesham Heath.

Inspector Mark Larner, of Suffolk police, called for anybody who witnessed the crash to get in touch.

He said: “A two-vehicle road traffic collision occurred at approximately 2.29pm at the A12 near to the junction of Seckford Hall Hotel.

“There is a confirmed male fatality and a female has been taken to hospital.

“We are appealing for witnesses to this incident to call Pc Gary Buss at Suffolk police on 01473 613500.”

The accident caused major problems for traffic using the A12 - especially for vehicles heading north who were being diverted through Woodbridge.

Queues stretched the whole length of the Martlesham by-pass heading north - from the Black Tiles roundabout to that just below the Seckford junction.

The road remained closed shortly before 6pm as officers continued with their investigation on the northbound-carriageway at the Seckford hall junction with the A12.