A woman was airlifted to hospital after a horror crash on a north-east road which left five other people injured.
The accident happened on an unclassified route outside Delgatie Castle near Turriff.
The road links the notorious A947 Turriff-Banff road with the nearby village of Cuminestown.
The smash left four people trapped in the wreckage of two vehicles.
All six people who were travelling in the cars needed medical treatment.
A total of three fire appliances were called to the scene to free the occupants of a black Citroen C2 and a red Volkswagen Golf.
Shattered glass littered the road where is crosses a narrow stream near a local trout fishery.
The male driver of the Citroen – which landed on a tree stump overhanging the stream – suffered “serious injuries” and was taken to hospital by road ambulance.
The Golf – which was carrying five people – came to rest on the opposite side of the road.
Emergency crews freed two women with serious injuries from the Volkswagen.
One of the casualties was taken to a waiting air ambulance which took off at 1.50pm and airlifted her to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) with head injuries.
Fire crews left the scene a short time later and forensic crash investigators began photographing and scanning the debris and carriageway to gather evidence.
Speaking at the scene, road policing sergeant Colin Matheson said: “The driver of the black car is a man and he is seriously injured.
“There were five occupants in the Golf. Two of them, both women, have serious injuries.
“One woman with serious head injuries has been airlifted to ARI.”
Sgt Matheson added that the remaining three people involved in the accident all suffered “minor” injuries.
A spokesman for the fire and rescue service confirmed that four people were trapped in the cars when crews arrived and that the road was blocked.
A near two-mile stretch of the road from the A947 junction to Muiryfold was shut while the emergency services worked at the scene and cleared debris from the road.
The accident happened around 11.50am and the route remained closed at 5pm last night.
Motorists were advised to take an eight-mile diversion from Cuminestown via the B9170 and the A947 to Turriff to pass the scene.
