Firefighters say the driver of a Peugeot 206 is lucky to be alive after the car he was driving left the road and ended up on its roof smashed to pieces.

The impact was so great the engine was actually ripped out of the of the vehicle which ended up lying in a lorry parking space.

The crash happened earlier today on the slip road of Medway Services on the M2 near Rainham, just after 1pm and the driver is thought to have made off from the scene.

The crew said the light blue car, which they think must have been travelling at some speed, lost control of the road and hit a concrete reservation and flew up in the air over road signs and landed in the lorry park in bits.

A crew from Medway fire station were called out to the scene as it was first thought people could be trapped in the mangled vehicle.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service, said: “It was initially thought people were trapped but when we arrived no one was in the car.

“The impact ripped the engine and its radiator right out of the car and we just couldn’t understand how anyone got out of the car alive.

“The was blood inside it so whoever was in it was injured.

“It hit a concrete reservation and flew up in the air and travelled about 30 feet missing road signs and then crashed to the ground.

“It ended up in the lorry park at the services, we made the scene safe and then left."

Police officers who were also called to the scene carried out a search of the nearby area and arrested a 47-year-old man.

A spokesman for Kent Police added: “Kent Police was called at 1.07pm to a report of a road traffic collision where a car had left the coastbound M2 near Medway Services.

“A search of the nearby area was carried out and officers arrested a 47 year-old man from East London at about 3pm, on suspicion of stealing a car from the London area.

“He has been taken into custody.”