A DRIVER was rushed to hospital after a tree fell on and crushed his car while he was inside.

The taxi driver, who is believed to be in his 50s, was waiting on Knellers Lane, Totton, during a shift.

He managed to dodge the tree by leaning towards the vehicle's passenger side.

Emergency services rushed to the scene just before 12.30pm yesterday and fire fighters helped the man out of the car, who has suffered no injuries, according to Hampshire Police.

A nearby resident who called the police said: "I was walking down and thought it was just the tree that had fallen, but as I got closer I thought, 'oh my god there is a car under there'.

"I realised it was a taxi and I know the guy, so I called his name and he answered me, and he was really panicking wondering if anything else was going to fall on him. He's so lucky that he survived."

A spokesperson for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "We were called at 12.25pm today to an incident in Knellers Lane, Ashurst. A blue Skoda taxi was trapped under a tree.

"A male casualty was extricated and passed into the care of South Central Ambulance Service. Three engines attended the scene from Redbridge, St Mary's and Eastleigh along with specialist vehicles.

"The stop message was at 1.37pm."