Licensees come to the rescue

When Anna and Richard Scott, licensees at the Tal-y-Cafn hotel in North Wales, heard an almighty bang just before the lunchtime rush on a busy Saturday, they knew something was terribly wrong.

Two cars had collided on a busy junction outside the pub. One, carrying an elderly woman, careered into the Scott family car by the pub wall, while a second car, with a woman in her mid-20s and her dog inside, landed on top of the pub rowing boat.

Having ordered the pub chefs to control traffic with fluorescent jackets the staff used on bonfire night, Anna brought the woman, who was suffering from bouts of unconsciousness, into the pub.

Meanwhile, restaurant supervisor and resident first-aider Jean Cox got into the passenger seat of the other car, which was leaking petrol, and kept the elderly woman coherent. It took 10 minutes for the ambulance crew to arrive, and they had to cut the woman out of the wreckage before taking her to Glan Clwyd Hospital.

"I stood there thinking I don't quite believe we're doing this," explained Anna. "But the team was fantastic. They all jumped to it."

Paramedic Greg Senior, stationed at Aberconwy, who was first on the scene with colleague Dylan Evans, praised the staff at the Tal-y-Cafn for their quick thinking.

He said: "I have to commend the licensees. When we got there they briefed me on what had happened and with the information they gave us we were able to get everything in place."

The young woman suffered a broken collarbone and the elderly woman escaped with severe bruising.

"She wasn't a regular customer but she will be now!" said Anna.