Heartbreaking picture of injured elderly couple holding hands on stretchers after serious car crash in Somerset

This is the heartbreaking photo of an elderly couple holding hands as they were stretchered away from a serious car crash.

The husband and wife, in their 80s, had to be rescued after their car careered off the road and was suspended high up in trees.

As they were transferred to an ambulance, the couple were pictured by fire crews holding hands from separate stretchers.

It happened in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on Monday afternoon. The pair are now recovering in hospital.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service said no other vehicles were involved in the crash.

In a tweet, Weston-Super-Mare fire station said the couple were “safely lowered to the ground” in the “challenging extrication”.

Machinery was used to retrieve the car, which was almost lying on its side on an embankment about three metres above the road.

Do you know the couple? Email james.morris@standard.co.uk