Three die as mayhem hits roads

Three people were killed and several others were injured in a spate of road accidents across the West Midlands that marred the Easter holiday weekend.

A married couple died after their car ended upside down in a water-filled ditch beside the M6 Toll near Lichfield.

The accident happened on the northbound carriageway at Canwell between T3 Bassetts Pole and T4 Weeford at 3.45pm on Saturday.

Fire crews pulled the man and woman, believed to be in their 50s and from Cheshire, out of the car, but they were dead.

The Central Motorway Police Group was carrying out a reconstruction of the accident today to try to find the cause.

A motorcyclist died after hitting a lamppost on the A38 Bristol Road South, Rubery, Birmingham, yesterday afternoon.

He suffered multiple injuries and was confirmed dead shortly after arriving at Selly Oak Hospital.

A motorcyclist suffered a serious head injury and broke his leg, pelvis and arm after coming off his bike near Cannock Chase.

He was airlifted to University Hospital North Staffordshire following a crash in Main Road, Milford, near Stafford, at around 1.15pm yesterday.

There were also lucky escapes, with a man in his 30s walking away with just bumps and bruises after his car overturned in Smethwick. His Vauxhall Astra landed on its roof after hitting as parked car in Cape Hill at 12.30am on Sunday.

No-one was injured in a smash which saw a blue Mercedes Sprinter van flip over in Birmingham New Road, near Burnt Tree island, at 4.30pm on Saturday. Police blocked off traffic in both directions while they investigated.

Police appealed for witnesses after a Peugeot 306 hit a lamppost outside the Kingfisher pub, Swindon Road, Wall Heath, near Dudley, at 1.30am today. The driver fled the scene.

A 55-year-old woman escaped with just an arm injury after her car hit a tree in Ashby Road, Tamworth.

It took firefighters 20 minutes to cut her free last night.