A driver escaped serious injury after his car spun off the M5 and landed in a three foot-deep drainage ditch.

The Renault Clio is thought to have suffered a burst tyre as it was being driven along the southbound carriageway of the motorway between Falfield and Almondsbury on Thursday evening.

It rolled over and the air bags activated, protecting the 20-year-old driver, who was travelling alone.

Great Western Ambulance Service sent an ambulance and a rapid response car to the scene, where the man was assessed and treated for minor injuries to the elbow and chest.

Paramedic Chris Hewett said: "The driver walked away from what could have been a horrific crash, due to two factors – modern car safety standards and old fashioned luck.

"The car ended up on its roof, which had been bent into the cabin, and the air bag and seat belts did their job by keeping the driver's head from being injured by the intruding metal."