A car smashed into a lorry before hitting a passer-by today in a horror crash which closed a main road into Wolverhampton.

Four men were taken to hospital after the smash on the A41 Tettenhall Road, outside the Shell garage, which left the lorry embedded in a wall after demolishing a bus stop.

Emergency services shut off a stretch of the road spanning several hundred yards and diverted rush-hour commuters down side streets. Police, fire crews and four ambulances were sent to the scene at 5.30am.

The pedestrian, a man in his 30s who is believed to be from Wolverhampton, had been walking past the garage when he was struck. He was said to be the most seriously injured.

Doctors at New Cross Hospital were put on standby as he was taken there by ambulance with serious head and leg injuries. He was said to be in a critical condition today.

The 26-year-old VW Golf car driver, whose leg was badly broken, was trapped for around 45 minutes before being cut free. His passenger, aged 27, was trapped for around half an hour. The man, who had been in the car heading out of the city, suffered chest and back injuries.

The lorry driver, believed to be in his 30s, suffered a facial injury and was also taken to hospital but his condition was not thought to be life threatening. Tettenhall Road was shut both ways at its junctions with Paget Road at the Halfway House pub and Larches Lane. West Midlands Police said the road would be shut for several hours and was still closed at 11am.

Traffic was heavy around West Park after motorists were diverted down Albert Road. The adjacent Compton Road was also busier then usual during the morning rush.

The Shell garage was today cordoned off along with a number of homes and offices.

Barry Dixon, 43-year-old company director from Coalway Road in Penn, was stuck in traffic while taking his 12-year-old daughter Lily to St Peter’s Collegiate School.

“It has been quite a hectic journey getting to the school after the police stopped us from going along the A41,” he said.

Lesley Norton, aged 49, from Rugeley, said she was forced to park her car at West Park and then walk to work at the Christopher Layne Dental Practice in Tettenhall Road, due to the crash.

Onkar Multani, aged 47, who runs the Premier Convenience Store in Clark Road off Tettenhall Road, said trade had been affected.

“Normally by 8.30am we’ve had more than 40 customers stopping by to pick up sandwiches and cold drinks,” he said. “But since the accident we’ve had around a quarter of that. It has been really quiet.”

Adam Smith, aged 23, who works as a games programmer, said: “I live on Tettenhall Road and when I was getting ready to leave for work at around 8am I looked out of the window and saw there was no traffic at all.”

At around the same time, four vehicles were involved in a smash on the M54 eastbound between Junction 3 for Albrighton and Junction 2 for Wolverhampton’s Stafford Road.

Both lanes of the motorway were blocked, but it was completely re-opened by around 8.15am. In a third crash, a good samaritan had his car stolen after coming to the aid of injured motorists in a three-car pile-up near Bridgnorth at the weekend.