Fire crews had to stabilise an overturned van to stop it plummeting around 30ft down a grass verge before they could rescue its driver early today.

The driver crashed on a Black Country road.

They said the man had luck on his side as the vehicle landed upside down in trees which saved him from the drop alongside the main road in Wednesbury.

The driver, believed to be in his 20s, climbed from the cab of his white Ford Transit van, after fire crews had secured it, and escaped with just a cut finger.

The crash happened at around 7.15am on the A41 Black Country New Road in the direction of Wolverhampton next to the Holyhead Road Industrial estate near Wednesbury. The van was left facing in the opposite direction to the one it had been travelling.

Crew commander Phil Jones, from Wednesbury Fire Station, said: “The driver has had a very lucky escape. We had to stabilise the vehicle, which was being supported by the trees, before we could get him out.

“There is a 30ft drop below the trees and we had to ensure the safety of our crews and the driver before moving him out of the cab.

“He was a bit shaken up but didn’t seem to have suffered any serious injuries.”

He was taken to hospital.