A MOTORIST escaped injury when his car overturned near Carlisle after a night of plummeting temperatures.

It emerged the man’s lucky let-off, while travelling on Brisco Road towards the city yesterday morning, occurred on a route which had not been pre-salted overnight.

The shaken driver spoke at the scene of the crash, which occurred as he approached a right-hand bend.

“It was just like being on a piece of glass with no control,” he said. “I don’t know how it’s happened. I can’t explain it. But I’m fine.

“I’ve been down this road, hundreds, maybe thousands of times. It is a problem at winter time. It’s normally very slippy.” He believed that stretch should be gritted more often.

One former Brisco resident spoke of “scores of accidents” over the years on the road, adding: “I used to dread it during icy weather.”

A Cumbria County Council spokesman said: “This road is a Priority 3 gritting route – it is treated when there are prolonged icy conditions but not pre-salted when freezing conditions are forecast.

“The council routinely pre-salts around 2,400km of road in a full gritting run of Priority 1 and 2 routes – approximately one-third of the county’s entire road network.

“We’d urge all drivers to take extra care when driving in winter conditions, plan their journey ahead by checking the latest forecast information, and ensuring their vehicle is prepared and ready for the winter season – including tyres and air conditioning systems.”

Today’s incident was reported to Cumbria police at around 8-45am, a force spokesman stating: “The vehicle, which was a black Peugeot saloon, was recovered quickly.

“No injuries were reported to the driver, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle at the time.”

The crash came on the day that motorists in Alston and Nenthead reported difficult road conditions following overnight snow.

Temperatures are expected to remain low in the coming days, with highs of just seven or eight degrees expected during the day in Carlisle.