SIX people - including two children - were hurt in a smash on Bread and Cheese Hill yesterday morning.

Three teenage girls were in one car, a mum and her two children in the other.

One of the teenagers was taken to Southend Hospital with back pain, the other two were taken to Basildon Hospital with leg pains and shock.

The mother was taken to Basildon Hospital with neck pain, while her children were also taken as a precautionary measure.

They were not badly hurt.

The smash happened just past the road’s junction with Thundersley Grove at about 9.15am yesterday.

Police closed off both the top and bottom of the busy road, which separates Benfleet and Thundersley.

An ambulance service spokesman confirmed that two rapid response vehicles, and three ambulance crews treated all six patients.

The closure prompted local traders to help police direct traffic away from the crash at both ends of the hill.

It has also led to campaigners renewing calls for drivers to pay greater attention when driving down the hill.

Joe Griffiths, who works at Stellisons Electronics, was one of the first on the scene. 

The 23-year-old said: “It wasn’t nice at all, and when it all happened, we were luckily able to get some cones out there to stop cars going down.

“Because the crash wasn’t visible from the top looking down, people had no idea, so we had to do something.

“Crashes and near misses here are quite common so people do need to take care when driving here.”

Gemma Harris took to the Echo’s Facebook page to add: “I had a taxi driver no further than two centimetres away from the back of my car going up up the hill.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101.