A MOTORIST miraculously walked away from the wreckage of his car after it rolled over three times before catching fire.

The driver was travelling along the M27 towards Portsmouth when it is thought he lost control of his red Ford Escort just before junction 11 to Fareham.

The car ended up on its roof on the hard shoulder of the motorway, causing police to close off the inside lane to traffic for two hours.

Amazingly, no other vehicles were involved in the accident that happened at 7am on Saturday.

It is thought the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel, causing him to lose control of the car.

A police spokeswoman said: "It is quite remarkable that the man managed to walk away from the car with just bumps and cuts.

"Thankfully no one else was involved in the accident, although a lorry driver pulled up behind the wrecked car to warn other drivers of the danger.

"We are now investigating what happened but it might have been due to the driver falling asleep at the wheel, although that hasn't been confirmed as yet."

According to Hampshire police, the driver from Portsmouth, who has not been named, was able to get out of the car himself but firefighters from Fareham were called to the scene of the accident as a precaution.