A woman had a “lucky escape” after her car rolled onto a fence post during a crash in Sible Hedingham.

%image(15439033, type="article-full", alt="Firefighters said the driver had a "very lucky escape".")

Firefighters were alerted to the collision on Halstead Road at 7.43am and sent two engines from Halstead.

Crews used cutting equipment to release the woman, in her 30s, from her car that had rolled onto its side and trapped her inside.

Station officer, Danny Partridge, said: “The car rolled onto a fence post which went right across the driver’s seat – a few inches more and it would have impaled the driver.

“This was a very lucky escape. Once we freed her, the woman was able to walk away from the car and into the ambulance.

“Crews worked really well with the ambulance service to get the woman out of her predicament and thanks to that co-operation this ended well.”

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust sent two ambulances and two Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) vehicles to the scene.

HART acting team leader Graham Wareham said: “A wooden post went through the windscreen and missed the driver by one or two feet.

“She escaped with a few scratches and scrapes to her arm so she was very lucky really. She was shaken up but in fairly good spirits.”

The woman was taken to Colchester General Hospital for further care.

The road was reopened shortly before 9am.