BMW pulled from Walsall canal

A smartly-dressed businessman drove his six-month-old BMW into a Walsall canal basin after mistaking a blanket of algae for grass.

The man got lost in the pedestrianised area of Walsall town centre and drove into Gallery Square.

To the amazement of onlookers, the motorist, aged in his 40s and wearing a suit, ploughed into the water between Wharf Bar and New Art Gallery.

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Staff and customers from The Wharf Bar ran to his rescue as the car started floating on its side and the man, believed to be from the north east, struggled to break free as the car began to fill with water.

Eight men helped to pull him to safety through the window of his car. The vehicle, with its headlights turned on and its satellite navigation system illuminated, bobbed up and down in the basin.

The man, a diabetic who was visiting the area on business, raised concerns for his medication and overnight bag, both of which were in the car.

Firefighters from Walsall and the water rescue crew, based at Willenhall station, were called to the scene at around 6pm yesterday.

This morning, Severn Trent Water's recovery team dragged the car out of the water. Willenhall crew commander Tim Middleton said: "The driver was very embarrassed as a number of people were having a good gawp."

The driver is not the first person to make such a mistake. In 1999, a Walsall pensioner drove a brand new £16,000 Rover 400 into the same basin.