Pub demolished by car crash

An out-of-control car smashed through the walls of a Black Country pub leaving five people injured and causing part of the building to collapse. See also: Pub left in ruins by car crash

Five people were taken to hospital after the accident which demolished part of The Railway Inn, Pedmore Road, Lye, Stourbridge, to collapse.

The crash happened at 11.40 on Friday night. The driver, a man in his mid-20s, remained in a critical condition today. The others, three females and a male, were treated for minor injuries at both Selley Oak and City Hospitals.

A neighbour who lives opposite, Mr Brian Westwood, aged 71, of Pedmore Road, said he heard a loud bang and rushed out of his bed to his window to see what had happened. "I thought a car had crashed, which has happened here before. I dashed to the window and saw the car. I couldn't believe a car had caused so much damage. People came out of the pub to lift bricks and rubble off the car and then the building fell in."

It took fire crews more than an hour to free people from the wreckage of the Seat, according to eye-witnesses.