It was always going to be a rather unequal collision: a Toyota hatchback on one side, and one of the British Army’s main battle tanks on the other.

In the end though, the novice driver of a car who police said had inadvertently turned into the path of a convoy of tanks in north-west Germany escaped unscathed.

Her car, however, was left rather the worse for wear after the convoy’s lead tank was unable to stop in time and ploughed over the Toyota’s bonnet.

The car’s driver, 18, had apparently not seen the convoy when she made a left turn in front of it as the tanks travelled through the small town of Augustdorf, according to German police spokesman, Lars Risserbusch.

The tanks, from a British base in nearby Paderborn, were en route to training exercises on Monday morning. Police estimate the collision caused €12,000 (£8,700) of damage to the woman’s car.

An British army spokesperson said: “We can confirm that there was a road traffic incident involving a Challenger 2 tank and a car driven by a German national. The Royal Military police are working alongside the German civil police to investigate the incident.”

Earlier this year, another British military vehicle from the Paderborn garrison ploughed through the fence of an elderly couple. The military said that a mechanical fault had led to the armoured Warrior vehicle veering off the road.

A British military spokesperson was quoted in The Local website denying that tank drivers needed to have their training re-assessed.

“Our tank crews go through a very rigorous training process,” he said, reportedly adding that three members of personnel inside monitor the road “which is why they were able to stop soon enough”.