A ROAD crash victim is fighting for life today after having his leg amputated by paramedics working to free him from the wreckage.

The man was fully conscious as he underwent major surgery in his overturned lorry.

The lorry driver was in collision with a car and it is believed another lorry then collided with the underside of his overturned vehicle before emergency services arrived on the scene

Firefighters and paramedics fought to free him as he lay trapped in his red and white Scania lorry in a ditch near Spetchley.

A flying doctor was called away from Christmas shopping to attend the scene at Egdon, on the A4538 near the A44 junction at around 7pm last night.

Firefighters removed the roof of the lorry to free the victim, who was then airlifted by police helicopter to Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital.

"The driver was conscious throughout but couldn't feel what was going on because he was heavily anaesthetised," said Alec Mackie, a spokesman for Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade.

"The surgeon, who was Christmas shopping in Merry Hill when he was called out to the incident, did a brilliant job.

"He was given a police escort to the scene where he carried out the operation to amputate the poor guy's leg."

Three fire appliances

Three fire engines from Worcester, two from Bromsgrove, two ambulances from Worcester, a flying doctor and an incident specialist unit from Droitwich to provide lighting, all attended the scene. Another specialist vehicle with heavy lifting gear was brought in from the West Midlands Fire Service, but was not required.

The red and white Scania lorry was travelling towards Evesham, and a blue Lancia Thema and a white Volvo HGV were travelling towards the Worcester direction when the collision took place.

"We had to cut the cab of the vehicle and use a turfer winch for removing the roof," said sub-officer Steve Laugher of Worcester fire station.

A spokeswoman for Worcester police today described the driver's condition as "critical but stable" .

The road remained closed overnight, bringing chaos to the villages in the area.

Co-owner of the Berkeley Arms pub on the stretch, Neil Griffin, said a roundabout was needed as a traffic calming measure.

"We have had 20 accidents on this junction in the last year," he said.

"Every now and then we have a nasty one like this one though this is exceptional.

"The lory went through copse of trees into a ditch."

"It's a real accident blackspot," added Mr Griffin.

He took cups of tea and coffee to rescue crews as they worked for around two hours to free the crash victims.

Although no one else was injured in the crash, Mr Mackie said it was one of the worst accidents of its kind in the county.