Kidnapping charge after Sydney car crash

A man has been charged with kidnapping and injuring a woman after ploughing his car into a power pole in western Sydney.

The 47-year-old smashed into the pole at Westmead around 10am on Thursday before fleeing and leaving his injured female passenger in the car, police say.

The passenger, a 42-year-old woman known to the driver, was hospitalised with serious injuries.

The man has been refused bail to appear at Penrith Local Court on Friday charged with taking or detaining a person for advantage and causing actual bodily harm.