A MAN injured in a serious road crash has said he is grateful to the public and emergency services for helping him.

Mohammed Mughal, 25, of Ching Way, Chingford, had to be cut free from his white BMW after being involved in a collision in Station Road, Chingford, last Thursday afternoon.

He said the quick-thinking of a woman who witnessed the incident who told him not to move until the paramedics arrived helped him enormously.

He said: “As soon as I got hit a woman ran over and told me not to move and not to worry. I am really grateful for her helping me. I was sitting there and didn't know what to do and whether to get out the car.

"There were lots of people who stopped to help. I was also really pleased with the job the emergency services did."

Mr Mughal, who is currently seeking employment, was driving home after having visited his mother in Whipps Cross Hospital who has breast cancer and was recovering from an operation.

He said: “I felt the impact but didn't know what it was. I remember I was driving and the next thing I knew, the air bags came on and I was on the other site of the road.

“When the ambulance arrived I couldn't move properly and they said they had to cut me out because if I moved I could be paralysed.

"I was in a lot of pain in my back and neck and had a cut on my arm. The ambulance woman said she was surprised I hadn't passed out from shock.”

Firefighters freed the driver from his car and he was taken by ambulance to Whipps Cross Hospital where he stayed overnight.

X-rays showed no breaks, but doctors told him he was suffering from whip lash and back pain.

Andrew Shaw, owner of Shaw's Quality Butchers in Station Road, was also involved in the crash which he said left him uninjured, but shaken up.