A driver was airlifted to hospital with a serious head injury after his car ploughed into a wall on a busy road outside a Black Country temple.

The man had earlier failed to stop for police. His silver Vauxhall Vectra struck a wall in Wolverhampton Road West, Willenhall, near the traffic lights at the junction with The Crescent yesterday near the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Temple.

The injured man, aged in his 30s, was flown to Selly Oak Hospital, in Birmingham, following the incident which happened at about 2.30pm.

DCI Jo Chilton, of West Midlands Police’s professional standards department, said: “Just one vehicle was involved in the road traffic collision. The driver had failed to stop for officers earlier.”

She said efforts were under way to identify the man and the Independent Police Complaints Commission had been informed.

Officers shut the road to traffic and sealed the scene off for investigations.

Motorists heading towards Willenhall town centre were diverted along Walsall Road.

West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman Murray Macgregor said: “Both the car and the wall had suffered significant damage. The man who was estimated to be in his 30s had suffered a serious head injury. Due to his condition, the doctor on the air ambulance anaesthetised him before he was flown to the regional trauma centre at Selly Oak Hospital; medics were on standby for his arrival. “No-one else was in the car.”

Residents were allowed into the nearby Riverbank Road estate on foot and were told by officers to park their vehicles in surrounding streets.

Resident Parmjit Bagri said: “I left work early, but found the road was closed, so I parked over at the temple instead.”

The road was shut between Walsall Road and The Crescent.