A MAN from Sheppey man died early Saturday morning after the car he was driving hit a telegraph pole and wall near Leysdown.

The man, whose name has not been released, was driving a silver MG Rover from Leysdown direction when it veered across Leysdown Road at Bay View, hit the pole and demolished the garden wall of a bungalow. The car, whose passenger side was stoved in by the impact, ended up lying on the driver's side in the garden.

Neighbours were woken by the crash and one of them, a man who did not want to

be named, checked the driver's pulse as he lay trapped in the car.

The neighbour added: "It was impossible for me to get to him. He was still alive and we called the emergency services.

"We have lived here for two years and this road is extremely fast. It was an accident waiting to happen."

Paramedics tended the unconscious driver but he died at the scene. Firefighters removed the car's roof with hydraulic equipment to free the driver.

Leading firefighter Peter Jones from Sheerness said: "There was severe impact

damage on the passenger side of the vehicle. We were there for about an

hour."

The man's body was taken to Medway hospital and police say his relatives have been informed.

The bungalow, which was empty, is owned by a Maidstone-based investment company which is believed to be selling it. The property was formerly owned by Miguel and Katie Garcia, landlords of the nearby Bay View public house, who sold it in August last year.

The accicdent, which happened at 4.05am near the junction with Mustards Road,

closed a stretch of Leysdown Road for about six hours while crash investigators examined the scene.