Driver wakes up to find his car stuck in ditch

The 36-year-old had set off home from work late at night, but came to at 7.30am the next day and found his car was overturned in a ditch on the other side of a hedge on an isolated country road.

He called 999 on his mobile phone but had no idea where he was, and firefighters and ambulance crews were only able to locate him in a field by setting off their sirens and asking him over the phone whether he could hear them.

But despite his ordeal, the man avoided significant injury. He suffered a suspected broken collarbone and cuts and bruising and received treatment for his injuries at Hereford County Hospital.

Phil Major, station commander for Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service based at Leominster, said the man, who had been working in nearby Monkland before his crash, had been "very lucky" as the front of his silver car had ended up in a stream. Had it rolled further into the water the situation could have been fatal, he said.

Mr Major said: "He had left the road and gone over the hedgerow – but there was no mark on the hedge. It was quite bizarre.

"He was in the middle of nowhere. He was a very lucky man.

"It was a single car collision, but I don't know how it occurred. It must have happened some time between 10.30pm and midnight, or he would have been further away.

"When he came to he called our fire control but he wasn't able to pinpoint his location, so we were searching for him for some time.

"He didn't know where he was which did cause us some concern. All he knew was that he was in a ditch and his car was on its roof.

"He was in contact with our fire control office and could tell them if he could hear our sirens, and we were able to zone in on him like that.

"The front end of his car was in a stream, if the car had rolled he could have been in even more trouble."

Mr Major praised the team work of the emergency services for finding the man in a field near Weobley and getting him to safety following the crash on Friday night.

"It took some time to get him out because the car was quite badly damaged, but between us and the paramedics we managed it, and he was put in an ambulance and sent off to hospital," he said.

"The fact we found him was down to the team work of all the emergency services."

Inspector Andy Smith, of West Mercia Police, said: "We took a call at 7.45am from Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service saying they were looking for a man who had overturned his car.

"They were having trouble locating him but he was subsequently found conscious and breathing in his car which was on its roof in a ditch.

"He was removed from the vehicle and treated by paramedics at the scene.

"He was taken to A&E at Hereford County Hospital by ambulance with a suspected broken collarbone and cuts and bruises but certainly his injuries were not considered life threatening."