A GWENT motorist had a lucky escape when his Porsche flipped and landed on its roof after hitting a kerb.

Police said the 26-year-old driver - who was forced to smash his way out of the wreck through the back windscreen - was lucky to escape with his life.

He suffered only cuts and bruises.

The accident happened at 10.30am on Saturday in the car park of Pets at Home, in Cwmbran retail park.

Police accident investigators said the rare Porsche 928S was travelling up Cwmbran Drive when it somehow hit the traffic island at the entrance to the Cwmbran Retail Park, crashed into a roadsign and flipped in mid-air, landing on its roof across two empty parking bays.

The driver was the only person in the car.

Witness Nikki Thomas, 22, a media student working in Pets at Home, said: "I heard a massive bang, and when I turned round the car was there lying on its roof.

"I went out and saw the man break through the back window. He was bleeding from his hands and head, but otherwise he was OK. I brought him in to sit down and he phoned his girlfriend.

"He was really shaken up and kept saying, 'I've written off my car'."

Sergeant John Watson, of Gwent Police's collision investigation unit, said: "The man is very lucky to walk away from this alive. He could easily have been killed."

The cause of the crash is being probed by collision investigators.