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Driver flees after car hits garden wall and overturns

A driver fled the scene after smashing into a garden wall and overturning outside a Black Country home.

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The scene of the crash. Photo: @Oldburyfire

The car veered off the road and crashed on Oldbury Road, Rowley Regis.

West Midlands Police confirmed the driver left the scene and inquiries are ongoing to trace them.

A social media post from firefighters at the scene said that the car was “millimetres” away from hitting a home.

The wall was badly damaged in the crash and debris was sprawled across the road.

Two fire engines and 10 firefighters from Haden Cross attended the scene in the early hours yesterday and made the scene safe, while a paramedic also came across the incident by chance.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “One of our HART paramedics came across the incident at 5.01am. The car overturned after hitting a garden wall.”

No one was in the property at the time, leaving shocked neighbours to alert the emergency services. They said it was the latest in a series of collisions at the scene.

It is understood the two-storey detached property is in the process of being refurbished by new owners.

The vehicle also avoided hitting two greenhouses in the front garden by inches.

Wayne Hardwick, 57, who lives opposite, was one of the first on the scene after being woken by a loud ‘boom’. He claimed the location had become an accident blackspot since bollards were installed about a decade ago.

“Two years ago, a car lost control on that bend and went through my hedge. There have certainly been three accidents there in that time.”

Neighbour Eric Woodhouse, 58, said: “At first I thought it was a gas explosion. When I got there my nextdoor neighbour was clearing the rubble from the road to make it safe for other drivers.

“He said the driver run off in the direction of Blackheath. You can see the skid marks on the wrong side of the road from where he’s swerved to avoid hitting the bollards. They’re too close to the bend. It must be the sixth collision at that spot in the last 10 years.”

A spokeswoman for the police said: ““inquiries are ongoing and anyone with any information is asked to contact police via live chat at www.west-midlands.police.uk between 8am and midnight or call 101 anytime.”

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