A COUPLE have spoken of their terror after a car ran into a cable deliberately tied across a street and was catapulted back into their own car.

Driver Matthew McGinley, aged 21, of Stourport-on-Severn, broke two ribs and smashed his head into the windscreen.

He was taken to hospital, where he was kept overnight.

His 18-year-old fiance Jessica Jackson was also in the car but uninjured said she didn't want to think what could have happened had they been driving faster.

Police said someone could have been died if they had ridden into the cable, which was tied across the sharp bend in Woodbury Road beside the Severn Valley Railway line.

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."

Mr McGinley, of Wilden Lane, will be off work for two weeks because of his injuries. 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 lamppost and a tree, just after 8pm on Sunday night.

"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.

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 into the front of their Ford Escort, which belonged to Mr McGinley's mother.

"Until I saw the car the next day, I thought it was a nightmare," she added. "I am in shock. I was physically sick when I saw the car."

Anyone with information on the accident can call Kidderminster police on 08457 444888 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.