A WOMAN had a miraculous escape after the car she was driving plunged 40ft down a riverbank.

The BMW driven by the 31-year-old woman careered off a dual carriageway in Wallington near Fareham before somersaulting a number of times and landing on its roof in the creek that runs beside the road.

The wreckage ended up submerged in the water but the woman somehow managed to get out of the car, scramble up the riverbank and stagger into the nearby Roundabout Hotel, where staff called for the emergency services just before 8pm yesterday.

Staff wrapped the woman - who is married and from Fareham - in blankets while they waited for paramedics to arrive.

Hotel manager Paul Askew said: "The lady came in soaking wet and said she had fallen into the creek. We looked after her and called 999 for her. We brought her blankets and towels and put her in front of the fire to keep warm. Considering what she had been through she was not as bad as I thought she would be.

"She dealt with it quite well, although she was shaken.

"We phoned her parents, but we couldn't get in touch with her husband."

The woman told hotel workers how she was on her way to the nearby Sainsbury's store when the accident happened.

Fareham firefighters described the woman's escape as miraculous.

Sub-officer Jim Stone said: "She was lucky to get away without any injuries. It was an amazing escape."

Ambulance crews took the woman to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, but she was not thought to be seriously hurt.

A spokesman said: "The car had flown approximately 40ft into the air, rolled a couple of times and fell into the river. We found the car upside down.

"We took a 31-year-old patient complaining of head, neck and back injuries to hospital."

Meanwhile, police closed a lane of Wallington Shore Road while the car was recovered.

A police spokesman said the car had been completely submerged.

This morning, Wallington residents described how the drama unfolded.

Jean Jefferies, 72, of Wallington Shore Road, said: "I didn't know anything like that had happened.

"I went out later and saw that the area had been taped off by police.

"There were heavy lifting vehicles there too. I do remember hearing fire engine sirens.

"I don't know how somebody could have ended up in the river like that and escaped."