POLICE are piecing together the events leading up to a car crash which left an elderly man dead.

Sixty-seven-year-old Allan Packe from Oldbury, West Midlands was killed when his Honda Accord careered off the northbound A456 dual carriageway between Kidderminster and Blakedown and wrapped itself around a tree.

No other vehicles - or people - were involved in the accident at about 1pm last Wednesday which closed the Birmingham-bound carriageway for three hours.

Sub Officer Mick Rowlands of Kidderminster Fire Station said the car had been travelling in the right hand lane before veering left - narrowly missing an articulated lorry - mounting the pavement and heading down the steeply sloping wooded bank.

He said: "It hit a tree head on and snapped that off and slammed sideways into a bigger tree, wrapping itself round that."

The tree was embedded 2ft into the driver's side, added Mr Rowlands, and the car came to rest suspended above the ground at a 45 degree angle.

Kidderminster Police spokeswoman Jo Hammond said the investigation would take several months.

An inquest into Mr Packe's death was opened in Stourport on Tuesday. Anyone with information can contact PC Nick Ferguson at Kidderminster Police on 08457 444888.