A YOUNG couple have spoken of their terror after a car ran into a cable deliberately tied across a Kidderminster street and "catapulted" back into their vehicle.

Driver, Matthew McGinley, 21, broke two ribs and smashed his head into the windscreen after the car he was following struck the cable and careered backwards into his Ford Escort.

The Wilden Lane, Stourport resident was rushed to hospital, where he was kept overnight on pain-relieving drugs, including morphine. No-one else was seriously injured.

His 18-year-old fiance, Jessica Jackson, was also in the car and said she "didn't want to think about what could have happened" had they been driving faster when the smash happened, on Sunday night.

Police said a cyclist or motorcyclist could have been killed if they had ridden into the cable, tied across the sharp bend in Woodbury Road beside the Severn Valley Railway line.

A Kidderminster police spokeswoman said the incident was "very unusual" as well as being "a very dangerous thing to do and the consequences could have been a lot more serious than they were".

Mr McGinley, who will be off work for two weeks with his injuries, said the crash "scared the hell out of me".

The mechanic had been following three friends who were travelling in a Ford Fiesta.

The Fiesta ran into the orange electrical cable, tied about 3ft off the ground between a lamp-post and a tree, just after 8pm. It braked but it was too late.

"I can't believe it has happened," he said, "It really shook me up knowing something like that can happen. It could have killed me if I was going faster."

Miss Jackson, of Comberton Road, Kidderminster, said the Fiesta, which also had a couple in the front seat and a man in the back, "catapulted back into us", smashing in the front of the Escort, which belonged to Mr McGinley's mother.

She went on: "Until I saw the car the next day I thought it was a nightmare. I am in shock. I was physically sick when I saw the car.

"I can see it now and it is all playing in slow motion in my mind. We were terrified."

Mr McGinley was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital. He suffered from whiplash and has had to wear a neck brace because of his injuries.

PC Nick Ferguson, of Kidderminster police's Road Policing Unit said: "This may have been children messing about but it was an offence of causing danger to road users.

"Luckily, in this case, the man's injuries were minor but the consequences could have been much more serious and, had a cyclist or motorcyclist ridden into the cable, they could have been killed."

Anyone with information should contact Kidderminster police on 08457 444888 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.