A TAXI driver cheated death when his cab slid on black ice, smashed through a wall, plunged 20 feet and ended on its roof on top of a factory.

Driver Robert Swaithe was freed by rescue crews after two hours.

The drama happened around 5.30am yesterday morning on Mean Lane at its junction with Broadlands Road.

Mr Swaithe has been detained in Huddersfield Royal Infirmary with a broken elbow, stomach, head and neck injuries and .

His daughter Kelly Jackson said: “He's in a really bad way, but he's lucky to be alive.

“After the smash he just managed to put his foot on the horn and pressed down hard to attract someone's attention.”

Watch manager Andy Blackburn of Huddersfield Fire Station said: “The taxi had come to rest on the tin roof of a building and a fireman had to be lowered down to stabilise the driver initially.

“The conditions were treacherous. He was a big guy and it was difficult getting him out.”

Watch manager Blackburn said: “The crews worked extremely well together.”

A woman walking past the incident also slipped on sheet ice and suffered serious back injuries.

Mark Lightowler is a director of woollen yarn spinners Lightowler Yarns, of Brighouse Mill, The Cobbles, where the taxi crashed.

Mr Lightowler said: “I rang work to say I was having trouble getting in and the foreman who had opened up told me about the crash.

“They said the driver was crying out in pain and they were struggling to free him.

“It’s a tin and slate roof and has been quite badly damaged and we’ve lost about half a day in production by our 22 workers because of the incident. But the main thing is that he’s alive and safe in hospital.”

Motorists awoke to hazardous driving conditions with accidents reported every few minutes.

A ten-vehicle smash was reported in Lightridge Road at Fixby.

Another ten-vehicle “shunt” was also reported in Keldregate at Bradley and there were four accidents in nearby Alandale Road.

In Wiggan Lane at Sheepridge a Peugeot car hit a parked vehicle and was then hit by a red Seat.

A van and a blue car were involved in a shunt in Waterloo Road.

At 5.20am a vehicle was stuck at Upper Clough in Linthwaite.

Five vehicles crashed in Bank End Lane, Almondbury, and there were a series of crashes in Birkby Road.

In Cowrakes Road, Lindley, bus passengers escaped unhurt when a single-deck First bus skidded.

Highburton was cut off after a crash which blocked the village centre.