A GOOD Samaritan who came to the aid of a women whose car flipped over on the M4 says she is lucky to be alive.

The 55-year-old driver from Magor was left hanging upside down from a seatbelt after the vehicle hit the central reservation of the M4 at the Coldra, and smoke was billowing out of the car.

But, she escaped with minor injuries after her silver Peugeot came to a rest across the inside lane.

Motorists rushed to help after the accident on the westbound carriageway above the Coldra roundabout on Sunday morning.

Terry Winfield, 51, and wife Nicola, 40, from Ringland, were driving from Chepstow when the accident happened at around 10.35am on Sunday.

Mr Winfield as well as a number of other motorists, placed his hazard warning lights on, stopped and ran to the driver’s aid.

With smoke coming from the dashboard, he tried to open the door to get the woman out, but it was locked.

He then took the keys from the ignition, half opening the jammed door. With another man holding it open, he tried to lift the motorist free.

Mr Winfield said: “It didn’t look good with all the smoke and she passed out into in my arms. Nicola was on the phone to the emergency services, who advised me to keep her in that position, so I held her there for about 10 minutes until an ambulance arrived.”

There was a mongrel dog in the back, who the couple were later told is called Max, but he was okay, and quietly watched the rescue operation.

The couple were later phoned by police to tell them the woman escaped with minor injuries.

He said: “She’s lucky to be alive. If it wasn’t a 50 mph zone, it could have been different. A metre earlier, the car could even have gone through to the other carriageway and caused a massive pile-up.”

The road remained closed until 11.45am, with police diverting traffic off junction 24.