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DJ Nick Grimshaw today said he was “absolutely fine” after rolling his £80,000 Mercedes when he apparently swerved to avoid a stray cat.

The Radio 1 star, 32, hit the brakes to dodge the animal and veered into a car parked in the residential street in Stoke Newington.

The former X Factor judge, who returned for his 6.30am breakfast show this morning, is reported to have been driving at less than 15mph and escaped uninjured.

Asked on air by a colleague if he was alright, Grimshaw said: “Yep, the car went upside down. I’m absolutely fine.”

"I turned out of my house... my car flipped over and went over on its side. People were like 'you can't have been doing 15 miles per hour' ... I was, that's how embarrassing this was."

He added: "I came out of my street, turned right, saw quite a large ginger cat. I was like 'oh no, a cat'. Rather than killing the cat I drove into a car.

"The car that I hit made my car tip over. The woman's car is absolutely fine... she needs a new wheel arch, which I guess I'm paying for."

Grimshaw said that he was driving so slowly that he knew that his car was going to tip over before it did.

He said: "When it happened it happened quite slow-mo. It looks really dramatic. It looks like Vin Diesel did it. It looks like The Fast And Furious."

​He added: "I kept thinking have I avoided that cat and now flattened it? All I could think was 'is this cat as flat as a pancake under this car'? It was really giving me anxiety.

"The police had to come, the fire engines had to come, every neighbour in the street was out.

"The cat's fine. It sat there for the full two hours while I was out in the street.

"The cat met the police, the cat met the fire brigade, the cat watched me make a call to insurance to organise someone to pick the car up."

He waited at the scene as the black G-wagon was lifted upright and towed away.

Later, a cat was pictured casually strolling along the pavement next to a pile of sand used to cover motor oil that was spilled across the road during the crash.

Writing on Twitter after news of the collision emerged, Grimshaw said: “Had an accident in the car but all ok - shout out to all my lovely neighbours for helping out. See you in the morning.... I'll er get a cab.”

One neighbour said: “Talking to him afterwards, his main concern was that cat was ok.”

Neighbour Azzeddine Azouz said: “I saw him talking to people after, he was a bit shaken up. He was saying how he was trying to avoid the cat which went across the road.

“I think my neighbour’s car might be slightly damaged but what’s important is everyone is physically ok.”

The accident happened just before 7pm as Grimshaw was driving from his home nearby to appear on the Annie Mac show.

The appearance was cancelled with Mac telling listeners he: “unfortunately had a bit of an accident”.

She added: “He is fine, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about, but he can’t make it into the studio this evening,”

Neighbours in close-knit Clissold Crescent said they believed the cat that triggered the accident is a friendly stray tabby, which was later spotted sitting at the roadside.

One said: “Nobody seems to know who it belongs to but it is loved and always greets you when you leave your house.”

Another said: “I saw the car being picked up and put upright earlier today but I didn’t see the actual accident.

“People have said that it was the cat that hangs around here, it’s very friendly so we’re glad it was not hurt.”

Fans took to Twitter to praise the DJ’s decision to save the cat at the cost of his luxury 4x4.

Ruslana March wrote: “Glad to hear Grimmers is okay after his car accident. Not a lot of people would save a cat’s life by putting their own at risk.”

Ellis Crawshaw said: “Just saw that Grimmers crashed his car to avoid a cat... what a guy! “

And Hannah Boleyn tweeted: “What a legend. There is a place in my heart for all cat people.”

A BBC spokesman said: “Nick is absolutely fine – he was driving at no more than 15mph.”

A Met Police spokesman said: “Police were called at 18.47 to reports of an overturned car on Clissold Crescent, at the junction with Burma Road in Hackney.

“Officers attended. There were no reports of any injuries and no arrests.”