Chaos on roads as V Festival hit by heavy rain

Main routes from Telford towards Weston Park became gridlocked as the first of an estimated 95,000 music fans set out for the festival. Gates opened at 9am today.

Tailbacks formed on the M54 and A5 and a number of accidents prompted warnings from the police and ambulance service.

A teenager suffered head injuries after she lost control of her Volkswagen Polo and hit a tree near Bridgnorth, a motorist got stuck in floodwater in Albrighton and one driver spun on the M54 between junction two at Wolverhampton and junction three at Tong.

The teenage woman is believed to have skidded in the rain near Faintree Garage before her Polo left the road and went down an embankment. She was taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital with a head injury, cuts and bruises following the accident shortly after 8.30am.

Part of the roof fell in at the Game store in Telford Shopping Centre due to heavy rain.

Weather conditions had improved this afternoon, but rain is expected to return to the region tomorrow.

Another motorist had to be rescued after getting stuck in flood water in Albrighton. A fire crew was called to Newport Road to help a driver who got stuck just after 8am.

The retained crew took about 20 minutes to deal with the incident.

Meanwhile, the M54 was brought to a standstill by the first of the 35,000 cars expected to travel to V Festival over the weekend.

Fire crews from Albrighton, Telford and Wellington went to the aid of a man who had spun his car on the M54 between junctions two and three. He was uninjured.

Nearby, a man was hit by a lorry in Wolverhampton and an hour-long gridlock ensued.

The crash happened on the A449 in Bushbury, close to the exit slip road for junction two of the M54 at Coven. The junction was shut for more than two hours as the air ambulance landed.

Drivers heading to the festival were stuck in queues for more than an hour following the crash, which happened at around 8.50am.

The man in his 20s was airlifted to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Queues and congestion also hit motorways and major routes around Weston Park.

Police were drafted in to control traffic on the M6 north at junction 12 for the A5 at Gailey, and motorists were urged to queue on the hard shoulder approaching the junction.

Traffic stretched back past junction 10 for Walsall towards the M5 at junction 8, and highways bosses said the problem was expected to get worse throughout the day. There was also slow-moving traffic on the A5 between Gailey Island and the Pickmere Island near Shifnal.

Central Motorway Police Group, which covers West Mercia, West Midlands and Staffordshire, warned of the dangers of waterlogged roads after a patrol car aquaplaned.

CMPG tweeted: "Police car on M6 in Staffordshire has aquaplaned en route to a job. No collision and control was regained but shows the dangers out there."

Another tweet from CMPG said: "Heavy rain across the region. A number of collisions reported on & off the motorway network. Please take extra care whilst driving."

And West Midlands Ambulance Service reported 15 collisions in the space of three hours across its patch.

Meanwhile motorists took to social networking sites to express their frustration at the delays.

Tom Wright tweeted: "Dunno why people even try and use the #M54 when V Festival is on, it's the same every year! #Gridlock"

Matthew Bullock posted: "5 miles in 1 hour and 30 minutes. #m54"