A 21-year-old Paget parish man was lucky to escape unscathed yesterday when the car he was driving collided with a wall and flipped onto its side.

The turquoise Subaru struck the wall on the east side of Southcote Road as it headed toward South Shore from Ord Road and flipped over, landing on its right-hand side.

The driver declined to speak to The Royal Gazette but it is understood that he told Police officers that he took his eyes off the road for an instant just before the crash occurred.

A Bermuda Fire Services spokesman said: "The driver lost control of his car.'' It is believed that the man was trapped briefly in the car but a Police car was next to arrive on the scene and the officer helped the man to get out.

A spectator said: "He's lucky the car didn't get mashed up, it's just damaged on its side.

Another bystander added: "He doesn't have a scratch on him. He's lucky to be alive.'' Two fire trucks and ten firefighters arrived shortly afterward and used emergency equipment to turn the car around so it was pointing down the hill.

Five of them flipped it over onto its wheels.

A tow truck from Cardoza's Garage arrived on the scene a short time later and towed the car away.