Woman hit by car on M54 after accident

A woman in her 40s was seriously injured when she was hit by a car on the M54 after crashing into the central reservation.

The woman is believed to have tried to cross the eastbound carriageway towards Wolverhampton when she was hit by a silver Rover 75 after the initial crash at about 7.45am yesterday.

She was flown by air ambulance to the specialist trauma unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham with head injuries.

The motorway was closed for about two hours causing a backlog of traffic.

Police were today trying to piece together why the woman left her car, on the westbound side of the M54 heading towards Shrewsbury.

The accident happened between junction three at Albrighton and junction two at Wolverhampton.

Chris Kowalik, from the West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "The incident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian happened on the eastbound carriageway. The woman was hit by a car.

"Both sides of the motorway were closed because her car was on the westbound carriageway."

He added: "Two rapid response vehicles, one driven by a paramedic area support officer, attended along with an ambulance crew and the Midlands Air Ambulance from Cosford.

"A car had collided with a woman on the carriageway. The woman, who is in her forties, had a head injury. She was anaesthetised at the scene and her airway maintained. "

Local diversions were set up while emergency services dealt with the incident on the motorway, to allow debris to be cleared and for barrier repairs.

There were delays to traffic and those caught up in the traffic problems included competitors travelling to the nearby Shifnal half marathon.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

Sergeant Sion Hathaway, for the Central Motorway Police Group, said: "The motorway was closed to let specialist officers to examine the scene."