Lastminute founder in car crash

Martha Lane Fox was on holiday with friends

Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox has been seriously injured in a road accident in Morocco.

The internet entrepreneur has undergone emergency surgery following the accident, the Press Association news agency reported.

The accident occurred in the seaside tourist town of Essaouira, near Marrakesh.

Reports say Miss Lane Fox was taken to a local hospital with suspected haemorrhaging.

Miss Lane Fox is understood to have been with three friends at the resort, which is popular with artists and independent travellers.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that a British national has been seriously injured in a road traffic accident near Marrakesh and that consular assistance is being offered.

Miss Lane Fox cofounded Lastminute.com with Brent Hoberman in 1998. Their entrepreneurial vision epitomised the dotcom boom of the late 1990s.

Lastminute.com rapidly became a success with its offers of cheap holiday flights and floated on the stock market in 2000.

The online retailer now operates in 13 countries with eight million registered users. It continues to sell bargain air tickets and city breaks but also "last minute" lifestyle accessories.

Miss Lane Fox left the board last year, but her stake in the company is valued to be around £23m.

She is due to become the new head of department store group Selfridges.