Dad tells of lucky escape after car flipped on M55

Dan Brennan was driving home to Poulton in the second-hand MGTF convertible that he had just bought when a tyre burst on the M55.

He pulled his head down as the vehicle hit the embankment and rolled over, narrowly avoiding serious injury.

The 38-year-old told how his girlfriend and her four-year-old daughter were due to be in car but at the last minute he decided to drive it home alone.

He said: “I ended up driving and I’m glad I did. I was able to walk out of the crash. Someone else might not have been so lucky.

“I bought the car as a bit of summer fun. I was driving it back from Leeds and was nearly home.

“Just coming up to the Kirkham junction, the car veered to the left. It hit the embankment and rolled over.

“I could hear it was skimming the trees before it came to a stop.

“I was able to get out and people had stopped to try and help me.”

Following the blowout, Dan had just seconds to react, grabbing the steering wheel of the soft top and trying to avoid having his head hit the ground.

He said: “My head would have been above the windscreen level. As it rolled I could feel the ground.

“I’m lucky it was on the embankment, on soft ground.

“As the car rolled I remember grabbing the steering wheel and pulling myself down as far as I could.

“When I got out I could see the embankment was covered in tree stumps, from where they have been cut back.

“I don’t know what would have happened if I had hit one of those.”

CCTV worker Mr Brennan had travelled to Leeds to buy the car with his girlfriend. He had initially intended for her to drive the MG back to the Fylde coast.

Instead, at the last minute he opted to drive it, leaving her to get home in the vehicle they arrived in.

“If she had been in the car with her four-year-old girl I don’t know what would have happened,” he said.

“I ended up driving and I’m glad I did. I was able to walk out of the crash. Someone else might not have been so lucky.”

Mr Brennan, who has three daughters of his own – Samantha, 17, Alicia, 13 and 11-year-old Scarlett – normally drives a company Range Rover but has previously owned a convertible Porsche.

He paid £600 for the MG which was involved in the crash. And he made clear how important it was to carry out checks before driving away in a vehicle.

He said: “I paid £600 for the car and drove it back.

“Next time, the first thing I would do would be to get new tyres fitted.

“I think this shows how important it is to make checks when you buy a second hand car.

“I’d say if you’re not sure it’s definitely worth paying that little bit more.”

The motorway was not closed following the crash, which was attended by motorway police officers.