A lorry jack-knifed and smashed through a metal fence, causing wooden pallets to spill over a busy Black Country carriageway, after sliding in the icy conditions.

The GeoPost UK lorry hit black ice in Oldbury Road, Sandwell, before smashing through a metal fence, ripping a lamp post from the ground.

The road was closed in both directions between the Smethwick Galton Bridge train station and Spon Lane following the crash.

Firefighters from Smethwick and Handsworth were called just after 9am yesterday. The driver of the lorry, believed to be a man in his 30s, was unharmed.

Meanwhile two women were taken to hospital with minor injuries after their car crashed into a lamp post in Queensway, Oldbury at 6.15pm yesterday.

In a separate crash two men were taken to hospital after their Vauxhall Astra collided with a HGV in Axletree Way, Wednesbury at 8.30pm yesterday. The lorry driver was uninjured.