Driver's aquaplane smash escape

THE BMW comes to rest at Standedge Road, Diggle

A 51-YEAR-OLD Saddleworth motorist escaped serious injury after his sports car was involved in a weekend smash.

The BMW M3 became a twisted heap of buckled metal as it aquaplaned on the flooded surface then smashed into concrete posts on Standedge Road, Diggle, on Friday evening.

One of the images, posted to the GMP Traffic Twitter account, shows the car's passenger door impaled by a thick concrete post.

The engine was destroyed beyond recognition, with the front tyres sticking out of the side of the car facing the wrong way.

Police say as the driver lost control the car mounted the kerb and took out 30ft of concrete-posted fencing before coming to rest on its side against trees which prevented the vehicle from falling down an embankment.

The driver managed to climb from the shattered remains - despite some of the concrete posts entering the driver's area of the vehicle on impact.

He sustained cuts to his head and hands along with minor chest injuries and was airlifted from the scene in the air ambulance to North Manchester General Hospital where, after receiving treatment, he was released on Saturday evening.

PC Lee Cullen of GMP's Saddleworth Policing Team, said: "The conditions on early Friday evening were atrocious with lots of standing water which caused the vehicle to aquaplane.

"The driver was extremely lucky to escape with non life-threatening injuries."

The road was closed while the vehicle was removed.