A MINIBUS full of elderly passengers rolled over on its side after colliding with a tractor on a busy Hampshire road.

Seven people were today recovering from their injuries after the smash involving the Eastleigh Community Services' voluntary transport scheme vehicle.

Three elderly people were taken to Southampton General Hospital, including a 74-year-old man suffering from chest pains. Others on board were treated at the scene by medics and sent home.

The accident happened at about 3.30pm yesterday at the junction of Alan Drayton Way and the lower part of Old Fair Oak Road in Bishopstoke.

Emergency services sped to the scene which police immediately treated as a major incident because of the age of the passengers on board.

Two ambulance crews were sent from Hightown, one from Eastleigh and one from Southampton.

There was also a rapid response vehicle from Totton with an emergency care doctor. Hampshire and Fire Rescue Service also attended the scene.

The road, which links Fair Oak to Eastleigh and is one of the busiest in the borough, was closed for two hours while recovery vehicles moved the minibus which had ended up on its side and the tractor which had lost a wheel.

The side of the blue minibus was smashed in and local residents, who heard the horrendous crash, immediately sprung into action and comforted the injured by covering them with warm blankets.

A police spokesman said it was understood that at the time of the collision the community care bus was taking passengers home.

The accident brought the area to a complete standstill and things did not get back to normal until after 6pm.

Local resident Doris Sharpe, 76, spoke of her horror when she saw the accident just across the road from her home.

She said: "I was in the kitchen mincing some meat when I heard this terrific bang. I thought my washing machine had blown up.

"When I looked out of the window there was chaos. I saw people trying to hold up the back of the bus. There were two people on stretchers. One old woman who was a bit shaky was being walked to the ambulance. I am just glad to hear no one was seriously hurt."