Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson cheated death tonight after crashing his high-powered McLaren F1 supercar.

Atkinson, 56, was driving the £650,000 car, which has a top speed of 230mph, when it is believed he lost control and spun it several times before smashing into a tree and then a lamppost.

The car came to rest at the side of the carriageway before catching fire.

The actor managed to get himself out of the driver's seat and it's understood that another motorist looked after the shaken star until emergency services arrived at the crash site on the A605, near Haddon, Cambridgeshire, shortly after 7.30pm.

Firefighters put the blaze out and Mr Atkinson was taken to Peterborough City Hospital suffering from a shoulder injury.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service confirmed: "We attended the scene of a single vehicle RTA earlier this evening and took a man with minor injuries to hospital."

One onlooker said: “Rowan is lucky to be alive.”

Around the time of the accident, TV station Dave was showing a repeat of the comedy star’s appearance on Top Gear earlier this year, where Atkinson became the fastest star in a reasonably priced car.

The Blackadder writer owns a collection of vintage and classic cars and has written articles for specialist car magazines.

It is the second time he has crashed the supercar he bought to celebrate the success of his movie in the role of Mr Bean.

The front of the car was wrecked in the previous collision with the rear of a Rover Metro in Lancashire, in October 1999.