A man has been taken to Christchurch Hospital in a serious condition after his car crashed into a horse on a motorway.
Police said they were called to the incident on Christchurch's Northern Motorway, near Belfast, about 5.15am.
Earlier, police said the Fire Service was working to free one person trapped inside a vehicle.
There had been three horses on the motorway near the Tram Road on-ramp and Main North Road off-ramp, they said.
One of the horses was dead, and the other two have been walked into a paddock.
The Christchurch City Council's animal control section has been notified.