A NEW Forest couple had to be rescued by helicopter after a car crash during a holiday in France.

Malcolm Russell, 74, and his wife Norma, 73, were passengers in their car driven by their son Mark when it was in collision with another car just a mile from their holiday destination in Brittany.

Mrs Russell cracked her sternum and was airlifted to the helipad at the Cavale Blanche hospital in Brest and her husband was taken to the same hospital by ambulance.

"You just couldn't praise them high enough,'' said retired carpenter Mr Russell. "The fire brigade attended in the same way that they attend an accident here and there was a helicopter in attendance as well. The people at the hospital were also very, very good and the building was fantastic and spotlessly clean. We can't speak highly enough of the treatment we received," he added.

After Mrs Russell had been released from hospital, she and her husband were flown home to Southampton on a specially-chartered aircraft.