TWO men were left fighting for their lives after a high speed head-on crash left them trapped last night.

The two cars crashed on the A361 on the Milcombe side of Bloxham, near Banbury, about 10.30pm.

Firefighters mounted a complex rescue operation and the men were taken to hospital with severe head and leg injuries.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue said: "On arrival it was confirmed that the male drivers of both cars were trapped, and these were the only occupants of the vehicles at the time of collision, and had collided head-on.

"Both vehicles left the road after the collision, one coming to rest on the grass verge, and the other in a ditch."

Incident Commander David Bray said it was “a high speed impact" which led to a very challenging rescue operation for firefighters.

Both men were freed from their cars using hydraulic rescue equipment.

Mr Bray said: "They were pinned inside their vehicles by their feet, and due to the level of deformation of the vehicles’ footwells and the limited space remaining within which to work made the extrication so much harder."

Initially two fire engines were sent from Banbury Fire Station along with the Rescue Tender from Kidlington.

An extra fire engine from Hook Norton was later called to the scene.

Both men were taken to hospital with critical injuries, one by police helicopter and the other by land ambulance.

Thames Valley Police Forensic Collision Investigators remained on scene after the rescue to look at the cause of the crash.