Eight people, including two children, were taken to hospital today following three separate road crashes.

The rush-hour incidents took place within 40 minutes of each other and less than six miles apart in the north Glasgow area.

The first incident was a head-on crash involving two cars at about 8.30am on Baljaffray Road in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said.

Firefighters called to the scene stabilised the motorists and removed them from the vehicles on spinal boards.

The man and woman were then transferred by ambulance to the Western Infirmary in Glasgow.

Five people were taken to hospital following the second incident, a collision between a car and a minibus which happened just before 8.50am on Queen Margaret Drive in the Kelvinside area of Glasgow.

Two of the adults and the two children were in the minibus while the other adult was in the car.

Crew manager Martin Brown said: "We arrived to find ambulance personnel already caring for three adults and two children who were in the vehicles at the time of the collision.

"The emergency services always work very closely together and that strong partnership is often needed to help people following an incident on the road.

"In this case we were able to assist paramedics to ensure casualties with mobility issues were safely moved to an ambulance.

"Two men and a woman were taken to the Western Infirmary while a boy and girl were taken to Yorkhill for precautionary check-ups."

The third collision involved two cars and happened just after 9am on Grampian Way in Bearsden.

Firefighters and ambulance crews provided treatment to a woman and a man at the scene.

The woman was then taken to the Western Infirmary for a precautionary check-up.

Station manager Steven Harper said: "To have three incidents within a relatively small area and in such a short space of time shows things can go wrong for any motorist.

"Firefighters and our colleagues from the police and ambulance services will always do everything we can to help people involved in collisions, but the stark reality is that the specialist skills and resources of emergency responders cannot always prevent tragedy.

"We all need to accept the risk and take steps to reduce the chance we will be involved in a collision."