A driver who crashed through a wall and plunged at least ten feet onto the tiny beach at the foot of Fractious Street thanked his seatbelt for saving him from serious injury.

The man, who asked not to be named, said: “I’m just thankful I had my seatbelt on. That’s a good thing, because it meant I wasn’t thrown anywhere.”

The man added he was able to free himself from the car and suffered only minor scrapes in the crash at Bailey’s Bay, which left his car upside down.

The driver said the accident happened after he was blinded by the sun and lost control of his Toyota RAV4.

He explained: “The sun went into my eyes and that was it. When I hit the wall, the car just rolled over and it fell down below.

The crash happened on North Shore Road, Hamilton Parish, just before noon.

A police spokesman said: “A male was travelling in a car when he lost control, careened through a wall and landed on a grassy knoll next to the actual beach. The man actually got out of the vehicle on his own and he is okay.”

The spokesman added an investigation into the crash was under way.