A Cross Roads resident who was badly injured in a road accident remains in hospital more than a month later.

Richard Frear, 26, was driving to work on the Aire Valley trunk road, early in the morning on December 13, when he was involved in a multiple pile-up.

A total of seven vehicles crashed, some of which skidded on ice. The incident has led to an investigation into why Bradford Council had failed to grit the road.

Mr Frear, a welder for Platinum Rails Ltd, in Cross Hills, suffered four shattered vertebrae, a broken jaw and a chipped bone in his neck. He was knocked unconscious in the accident and had to be cut free from his wrecked car by fire crews. His partner, nursery worker Jemma Holgate, said he was likely to be off work for at least three or four months.

"It's been very difficult for the whole family - we've got two young children and of course he was in hospital over Christmas," she said.

"He's never broken a bone before in his life and he's quite an active person, so he's feeling quite low.

"He can move but they don't want him to walk at the moment. He may need to wear a brace to support his back - it's going to be quite a struggle."

Miss Holgate, 28, said the family was now looking into a possible compensation claim against Bradford Council for its alleged failure to make the road surface safe.