A DRIVER has told how she is lucky to be alive after her car flipped and slid upside-down along the central reservation barrier after a 60mph-crash.

Kirsten Beckwith, 27, from Shoreham, was driving home on Thursday on the A27 when her car and a Hyundai crashed just before the A293 Portslade junction.

Her soft-top Mini then smashed into the central reservation and flipped before sliding down the barrier.

Amazingly, the marketing coordinator walked free, shaken and covered in glass.

She said: “I was conscious the whole time and it was still daylight at this time so I remember seeing the road underneath me.

“It was unclear how far I had travelled and who else I had hit, if anyone, being in a soft top I was extremely lucky my windscreen protected me.

“After the crash I knew I was OK, I just panicked as I've heard that Minis catch on fire when hit in a collision, so I immediately jumped out.

“The drivers from the surrounding vehicles were absolutely stunned to see me standing and they were all just smiling at me in shock.”

A lorry driver a few vehicles back stopped to make sure she was alright before police and ambulances arrived.

Miss Beckwith was checked over at the scene and taken to hospital for more tests, including X-rays and scans.

She said it is unclear whether she has any lasting injuries, as she still has back, neck and head pain.

She said she was “incredibly grateful” to the lorry driver and all the emergency services, adding: “They did an amazing job of looking after me, especially the first policeman, Adam Sandercock, the lorry driver, Ian Burton, the paramedics, Tim Hill and Jason Zubiene, who made me laugh and took my mind off what was happening, and the A&E staff.”

The crash at 5.20pm caused rush-hour tailbacks as far back as Devil’s Dyke.

A Sussex Police spokesman said the 56-year-old driver of the Hyundai, from Southwick, was uninjured.

Any witnesses should call 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or call 101 quoting serial 1031 of February 19.