TWO motorists had lucky escapes in separate incidents just 400 yards away from each other.

Ambulance crews were called to the scene between junctions 16 and 17 on the M4 at about 12.30pm today where a Mazda 2 Sport had gone off the carriageway and into a ditch.

But while paramedics were at the scene they spotted a second incident about 400 yards away where a car had rolled over.

A spokesman for Great Western Ambulance service said: “We had a call just before 12.30pm from the police indicating they had been tasked to an incident between junctions 16 and 17.

“A single car had gone off the carriageway westbound and gone into bushes down a ditch. He was not thought to be injured, we were asked to attend just in case.

“While we were there, about 400 yards down, there was an unrelated incident where a car had rolled on to its roof and back over.”

The man in the first incident, who is desrcribed as in his 50s, was uninjured.

The man in the second incident, who was driving a Vauxhall Astra estate, was in his 40s.

“The driver in the second incident was not believed to be injured but he was taken to Great Western Hospital for checks on his spine. He was taken as a precaution but was not seriously injured,” he said.

The Environment Agency also attended the scene to help remove the vehicles and straighten road signs.

Police were called to the first incident at about 11.40am.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: “We were called by a motorist who said that a car had left the M4 between junctions 16 and 17, gone down the embankment and ended up in a hedge. The driver was shaken but did not need an ambulance and the car was recovered.

“At 12.22pm Wiltshire Police received a call from a passing motorist that a vehicle had left the M4 between Junctions 16 and 17 and had ended up in a field. The car, a Vauxhall Astra estate, came to a rest on its side. The driver received minor injuries.”

Police are still appealing for witnesses to a fatal crash between junctions 13 and 14 on the M4, which took place at about 10.34pm on Saturday.

It is believed one of the cars in the collision may have been travelling in the wrong direction.

Two men died as a result of the crash and a woman, who was a passenger in the Mazda, is in a critical condition at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Anyone with information should phone Thames Valley Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.