A set of heavy traffic lights were knocked over by a car hurtling down an accident-prone road at speed.

The crash occurred at the junction between Lordswood Lane and North Dane Way, Lordswood last night.

Witness Brad Scott was working on the accident blackspot around midnight and is urging drivers to slow down and be more careful when passing road workers.

He said: “I didn’t see it but I heard the smash and there was quite a loud bang.

“Next thing I knew one of the other workers came running down and someone said he hit the traffic light without even stopping.”

Brad, who works for ETMS Highways, believes the driver may have been distracted on their phone or was impaired in some way.

He added: “He pushed the light probably about 15 meters and those lights are heavy – they’re about 140kg.”

Astonishingly, the car which is believed to be a silver Volkswagen Golf, was seen driving back past just 25 minutes later with visual damage.

“I don’t know if he was self-conscious that he might have hit someone,” said Brad.

The 35-year-old says workers had been at the same spot just a few hours before the accident. He was doing traffic management while another company were doing anti-skid works.

“You can see the skid marks of where he landed – it was just lucky they had finished working there and had moved further down the road,” he said.

Someone could have been seriously hurt or killed

“Someone could have been seriously hurt or killed.”

The busy road junction is a renowned accident blackspot with numerous crashes reported in recent years.

In March, a motorcyclist died after riding more than 30mph over the speed limit at the intersection while under the influence of cannabis.

Online petitions have previously been set up calling for increased safety at the junction.

Brad added: “This could have been someone's life due to the zero attention of the driver.

“Please be careful when we are out on the roads carrying out work.”