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A driver who had a lucky escape when his car span off the road during Storm Dennis has warned others to slow down in bad weather.

The man, in his 40s, said his BMW went in a complete circle on the A38 near Plymouth when he hit a “river” going across the dual carriageway.

Luckily the car came to rest on a grass verge and did not career into any other vehicle or the central barrier at Wrangaton.

Neither the driver, who does not want to be named, nor his passenger were unharmed in the accident at about 1pm.

And the BMW 535 only needed a visit to a car wash rather than any repairs.

Police yesterday warned drivers only to take to the roads if necessary because of the strong winds, heavy rain and falling trees.

The BMW driver, from Saltash, said he was doing about 65mph and was even talking to his passenger about the need to drive slowly as he headed from Plymouth to Exeter.

(Image: Submitted)

He said: “Normally you get a little bit warning before you hit water but I literally had no time to react. I just started spinning.

“There was almost like a river running across the road.

“It was like in slow motion. I had a passenger and we looked at each other. I just steered into it, like you are supposed to do.

“I was just waiting for an impact. Luckily there was no barrier there and we just came to rest on the grass. If we had spun the other way we would have hit the central reservation.”

The car came to rest after what the driver said was a “550 degree spin”, buried in the mud but at right angles facing the road.

He added: “We were both fine, just soaking wet when we got out of the car.”

The man said that Highways Agency workers pulled them out of the mud, briefly closing the carriageway.

He added: “The car is fine. It just needed to go to a car wash to get the mud which had clogged up the tyres.”

The driver wanted his accident to be a warning to others to reduce their speed in the rain.

He said: “I am definitely going to slow down in the rain. One hundred per cent.”