A WOMAN is lucky to be alive after her car overturned and crashed into a reen in Newport yesterday.

The crash happened on the coast road between Newport and Cardiff at St Brides - just yards from the spot where a similar accident claimed the lives of two brothers and their friends last year.

The 39-year-old woman's blue Renault Clio ended up on its roof at around 8am yesterday in the water-filled reen that runs alongside the B4239 coast road.

Resident Paul Williams, 38, arrived on the scene moments later. He said: "She was still in her car when I arrived. But just before I got to the reen to help her she managed to climb out and climb up the reen bank.

She was absolutely freezing. I drove around to pick her up and one of the first things she said was 'Is that the corner where those boys died?'" The woman was suffering from shock and Mr Williams said he gave her first-aid and tried to keep her warm.

The woman was taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, where she was treated for shock and minor injuries. She was allowed home later.

The reens were drained in October, and water levels are low. Dean Jackson-John, of the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels Drainage Board, said: "She had a very lucky escape. In summer the water is a half to three-quarters of a metre deeper. At the moment it is around 18 inches. If the crash happened in summer or if it had been raining there would be a lot more water and the situation could have been very different."

Although it is not yet known whether speed was a factor in this crash, residents have called for speed restrictions on the road since the deaths of four Risca men last year. Brothers Scott, 25, and Warren Harding, 27, and their friends Geraint Hill, 26, and Andrew Brooks, 30, drowned when their car overturned in the reen in June.

The driver who went to the woman's aid, Mr Williams is a business development manager from St Brides. "Since the reen accident last year I've carried rescue equipment in the car at all times.

"I'm a police-trained advanced driver and the other night, at 25mph, I lost control of the back of my car. There's clearly something wrong with the road surface at that spot."

Marshfield councillor Bill Pursey said: "Urgent action is required in this area. The speed limit at 60mph is too high and there is no pavement. It should be a maximum of 40mph and even less in the villages."

A Newport council spokesman said the council was reviewing speed limits at villages across the city but there were no plans to review the limits on the coast road.

"However, it should be stressed that speed limits on any road do not imply that it is a safe speed under all conditions and drivers should still adopt lower speeds if conditions warrant." There is no police investigation.