Commuters faced chaos on the region's road and tram networks this morning.

In Handsworth, rush hour travellers could only watch as a man apparently threw himself under the tracks of a Midland Metro tram.

The Asian male was dragged underneath the tram at its stop at the junction of Booth Street and Crockets Road at about 8.15am.

Services from Black Lake to Birmingham were suspended for three hours while the power was switched off so that emergency services could extricate and treat the man. He suffered serious head, chest and leg injuries and was taken to City Hospital, where his condition is described as critical.

Meanwhile, a motorway was closed for more than eight hours after blazing bales of hay fell off the rear of a trailer on to the roadway.

The southbound carriageway of the M42 remained shut until about 8am today following the incident between junctions 3 and 3A, near Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, at 8.30 last night.

Fire crews from Birmingham, Solihull and Warwickshire tackled the blaze, which affected a 700-yard stretch of motorway.

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