Pub left in ruins by car crash

A Black Country pub was left looking like an "earthquake scene" after the building was hit by an out of control car.

See also: Pub demolished 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.

Firefighters and rescue workers today said the aftermath of the smash resembled an "earthquake."

The crash happened at 11.40 last 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.

Specialist rescue teams had to fight their way into the crumbling pub to check if anyone was trapped inside.

The front left of the pub was demolished and the bedroom had collapsed into the road leaving a gaping hole in the front of the building. Furniture could today be seen tumbling out of the front of the building.Onlookers were this morning taking photos of the devastating damage on their mobile phones.

The car involved, a Seat Lyon, was still at the scene at 9am today. Its front bonnet was completely crumpled and firefighters had cut the roof and doors off to get to the people inside.

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.

"I saw a big piece of brickwork hanging which then fell onto the people below and I though they might have been injured."

Mr Westwood added it took fire crews more than an hour to free people from the wreckage of the Seat.