AN AA man was saved from a 40ft fall on to a major road when he was thrown through the air and landed in a tree after a freak accident.

Firefighters who rushed to the emergency scene on Monday morning described how the mechanic 'somersaulted' over a barrier on the Ditton flyover and landed just yards from the edge of a sheer 40ft drop.

PC Brian South of the police traffic unit in Widnes said: 'He was very lucky to have not been more seriously injured and when he was being taken to hospital it seemed he was thankful to be alive. It was like an early Christmas present for him!

'The Ditton flyover is a very fast bit of road which makes it quite treacherous.'

The AA man was assisting the driver of a broken-down Citroen at the roadside, near the Silver Jubilee Bridge, when a Ford Mondeo heading south towards the bridge collided with his parked van.

The force of the impact tore off the side of his van and shunted it forward, causing it to collide with the Citroen and throw the AA man over the barrier.

The stranded motorist, who was sitting in his car, was also injured as a result of a collision between the van and his Citroen.

Paramedics and fire officers who helped the injured parties and made the crash-damaged vehicles safe were amazed to find the AA man had suffered only minor injuries, and he was taken to an A&E department in Warrington.

Sub officer Steve McVey, commander of White Watch at Widnes, said: 'This man had an incredibly lucky escape, not just that the trees were there to break his fall but also that, had the incident happened a short distance further down the road his injuries could have been a lot worse.'

Traffic police cordoned off a quarter of a mile of Queensway while the recovery operation took place, causing disruption to diverted traffic.

An AA spokesman, refusing to identify the employee, said: 'This incident sums up the dangers of working at the side of the road ­ around 250 people are killed every year on Britain's hard shoulders.'

Police are investigating the cause of the incident.