A driver critically injured in a horrific accident in which a metal bar smashed through his windscreen is from Telford, it emerged today.

See also: CCTV film studied in hunt for lorry

Karl Duce, from St Georges, was seriously injured in the accident in Wolverhampton. He remains in a stable condition in hospital.

Police have also released a photograph of the heavy, 3ft-long bar which hit the 27-year-old in the face as he was driving.

The bar, weighing 12kg – almost two stone – is thought to have fallen off the back of a lorry coming into Wolverhampton along Wergs Road at about 3.15pm on Wednesday.

Marks on the road suggest it bounced three times while flying almost 15 metres (50ft) through the air on the same side of the road before suddenly veering up at about 45 degrees into the path of Mr Duce’s Volkswagen Golf.

The rod, which is 3in wide and about 1in deep, smashed through the windscreen and hit Mr Duce on the head.

Airlifted

Amazingly, he managed to pull the car over to the side of the road without hitting anyone else, despite being seriously injured.

Mr Duce was airlifted to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham following the freak accident. He remains in the major trauma unit

A passenger in the VW was shocked but uninjured in the incident. .

A West Midlands Police spokesman said today: “Officers have recovered a piece of metal described as being about 3ft long, 3in wide and about an inch thick.

“One line of inquiry is that the metal bar may have fallen from the back of a passing lorry, or had been kicked up from the road by a passing vehicle.”

Police are continuing to study CCTV footage in their hunt for a lorry believed to have been involved in the incident.

Officers are keen to hear from any drivers of goods vehicles travelling into Wolverhampton along Wergs Road at the time to contact the road policing unit at Bilston Street police station on 0845 113 5000.

By Simon Hardy