A BABY survived a crash on the M40 yesterday thanks to his car seat being correctly fitted, the fire service has said.

The one-year-old boy escaped the crash, between Banbury and Bicester, without injury.

His mother and father were also in the Fiat Punto, but neither were seriously hurt.

Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service incident commander Kerry Blair said: “The car left the carriageway and flipped over.

“The dad was a passenger and he took his son out of the car fine. Thankfully everybody was securely seatbelted in.”

The crash, which involved another car, happened on the M40 southbound, about a mile from Junction 10 near Bicester, just after 5pm.

While the father and his son were not injured, three fire crews, from Banbury and Deddington, had to cut the Fiat Punto’s doors and roof off to rescue the child’s mother.

Mr Blair said: “It was quite a traumatic event, so not surprisingly she was complaining of neck and back pain.

“We cut the doors off for immediate access and then took the roof off so we could remove her in a neutral position on a spinal board.”

Ambulance crews took all three family members to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital. The mother suffered minor injuries.

Mr Blair added: “It really shows the importance of having a child seat.”

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