Road chaos after A449 crash near Wolverhampton

A MILE long stretch of the busy A449 near Wolverhampton was closed off today after a car collided with a skip lorry.

Commuters on their way to work were stuck in queues stretching another mile back into the city before being sent on a seven-mile detour.

Police and highways chiefs, meanwhile, worked to remove the wreckage.

The northbound stretch of the A449 in Coven, South Staffordshire, was blocked between Brewood Road with traffic queuing all the way back to Bee Lane in Fordhouses, a mile the other side of Junction 2 of the M54. The road was completely closed for two hours after the silver Vauxhall Astra collided with the rear of a blue Volvo lorry at around 7.35am.

The driver of the car, a man in his 70s, had to be cut free from the vehicle by firefighters. He was treated for back pain and taken to New Cross Hospital on a spinal board. Van driver Simon Knight, aged 47, from Birnham Close, Tipton, said he had to turn back while on his way to Stafford.

He said: "It was a nightmare.

"I ended up having to go back towards Pendeford and then go the back way to Coven.

"I think I was fortunate because I was there quite early before the traffic really built up."

Police and the Highways Agency set up the diversion route for drivers to follow.

It took them along the M54 motorway, the A460 Cannock Road through Featherstone, onto the M6 and then the A5 at Gailey.

Just after 9.30am police opened one of the lanes, forcing traffic to crawl through before the road was fully reopened at 10am.

Sarah Collis, spokesman for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said they had to remove the roof of the Astra to rescue the driver.