Centre sealed off after smash
This dramatic picture shows the aftermath of a crash between a bus and an unmarked police car which led to parts of Wolverhampton city centre being sealed off on one of the busiest nights of the week.
This dramatic picture shows the aftermath of a crash between a bus and an unmarked police car which led to parts of Wolverhampton city centre being sealed off on one of the busiest nights of the week.
Revellers were forced to leave their cars on the outskirts of the city on Saturday night and make their way into the centre on foot as a number of roads were closed off between 5pm and 8.30pm.
The badly-damaged single decker 504 Travel West Midlands bus, which was heading for Rakegate and Pendeford, and the police car remained at the scene of the collision in Lichfield Street near Rothwells for several hours while investigations were carried out.
The windscreen of the bus was smashed and its bumper was also dented. The police car, a silver Renault Grand Scenic, wound up smashed into a railing and suffered damage to both sides.
Parts of Broad Street, Lichfield Street, Stafford Street, Princess Street and Darlington Street were closed to traffic following the collision, leading to problems on the ring road. Motorist Mike Brown, aged 65, of Penn, said: "It was taking about 15 minutes to move between junctions on the ring road.
"At first I thought it was just the football traffic but I quickly realised there must have been a crash because I have never seen it that bad."
A number of businesses also found themselves behind a police cordon.
Suki Bassey, manager of the Quadrant bar, said trade had been affected. He added: "With the football we would normally be quite busy but it was very quiet. Even though we remained open I think the cordon stopped a lot of people coming in." Rothwells manager Nick Macnik said: "We close for the football anyway so luckily it didn't affect us."
Chris Millard from the nearby Posada pub said it was business as usual.
Felicity Roberts, spokeswoman for Wolverhampton City Council, said a new part had been ordered for the broken traffic light at Lichfield Street which was damaged in the crash.
"It is due to arrive later this week," she said. "In the meantime we are putting temporary give way signs at the site."
