A DRIVER escaped unhurt today after her car careered down a grassy bank and plunged into water.

The 22-year-old motorist told the emergency services that the crash happened after she drove on to wet grass to avoid a cyclist.

She is thought to have been driving to work when her car ended up in the millpond beside Palace Lane in Beaulieu.

An ambulance and two crews from Beaulieu and Hardley fire stations were called to the scene just before 8am.

A South Central Ambulance Service spokesman said: "The driver was a 22-year-old female who reported that she was driving slowly on to wet grass to avoid a cyclist and the car slipped down a grassy bank into shallow water.

"The car was not submerged and she was able to climb out of the driver’s window and back on to the embankment.

"She was uninjured and also not suffering from either being wet or cold, so after being assessed by the ambulance crew she was discharged at the scene."