Passenger badly hurt in car smash

A passenger was flung from a car which overturned as it crashed into the garden of a home in the Black Country, demolishing a tree today.

The driver fled the scene of the crash leaving the passenger, a man in his late teens or early 20s, injured in the drive.I t happened on the A451 Norton Road at Stourbridge which was closed for about four hours, causing queues stretching back to the town centre.

Police are now trying to trace the driver. Neighbours rushed to help the injured man after the silver Volkswagen Golf overturned near the Greyhound pub at about 5.15 am.

A wall in the garden was knocked down and the 30ft tall conifer tree fell on a car in the front drive. The passenger suffered internal injuries and a serious blow to the head but was conscious when being treated.

He is now in a stable condition, a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said, and is "up and talking".

A teenager told of her shock as the car crashed into garden – landing feet from her bedroom window.

Amee Woolfenden sleeps in a downstairs front room at the house and the conifer tree shielded the room from the impact of the crash.

The 30ft high conifer tree was knocked over and fell on a parked car.

The Hagley Catholic High School pupil said: "I was woken up when I heard a loud bang and bricks flying everywhere.

"I looked out the window and saw the tree had been knocked down and the car was on its roof – it was scary.

"I'm so lucky the tree was there otherwise the car would have gone into my bedroom."

Emma Clewes, a 34-year-old accountant, rushed outside in her pyjamas to help the injured man.

She said: "He was squeezing my hand and I was trying to comfort him. He had blood on his face and he seemed to be in shock and in a lot of pain. He had bits of tree in his mouth and kept trying to move but I made him stay still."

The 30ft tall conifer tree fell on an Audi A3 belonging to Mrs Woolfenden, a 42-year-old nurse, badly denting the bodywork and breaking the windows.

Police are now trying to trace the driver of the car.

Norton Road was closed both ways at the crash site for about three hours, with traffic stretching back to Stourbridge town centre.