THE condition of a young woman, who was fighting for her life in hospital following a two-car collision on the lower section of Axminster by-pass, was this morning described as 'stable'.

THE condition of a young woman, who was fighting for her life in hospital following a two-car collision on the lower section of Axminster by-pass, was this morning described as 'stable'.The 22-year-old was the driver of a Rover 214, which was involved in a collision with a Citroen C5, driven by a 64-year-old man from Charmouth. He sustained a broken leg in the crash.The woman, who suffered multiple injuries, was flown by police helicopter to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, where her condition was initially critical.A 21-year-old female passenger in the Rover is reported to have sustained a broken ankle.The by-pass was closed for five hours following the accident, which was reported at around 6.45pm on Sunday.Emergency services were on the scene within minutes.Police attended from across the district and the by-pass was closed as firefighters from Axminster, Colyton and Seaton, assisted by specialist units from Exmouth, worked at the scene.Motorists, diverted into Axminster via Trafalgar Way, could see a section of the by-pass had been illuminated to aid emergency workers at the crash site.Some parked up in a field gateway, which offered an unbroken view of the scene.One motorist told the Herald: "It looked quite bad and I feared there had been a fatality."My heart goes out to the victims."If the driver of the Rover survives, it will be down to the speedy actions of the emergency services, who were on the scene really quickly."I could see they were doing everything they could."It's only when you see what they do, in the circumstances they have to do it, that you really appreciate them.