A partygoer camping in a field after a black-tie bash had a rude awakening when a friend reversed over his tent.

Richard Humphries, 22, pitched his tent in the grounds of Culham Court, near Abingdon, after a private party at the house.

He flaked out under canvas fully dressed in his black-tie outfit - giving the ambulance crew an interesting sight when they came to the rescue.

Paramedic Alison Bainbridge said: "He was there in full black tie, a dinner jacket and smart trousers - and he was in a tent. It was a bit odd.

"We've done some strange jobs in our time but this really was weird." She said when the ambulance arrived yesterday morning she crawled into the tent to find Mr Humphries, who comes from Yeovil, in Somerst, complaining of aches and pains but in good spirits.

Paramedics had to cut the roof off the two-man tent to get him out.

Mrs Bainbridge said: "He went to bed in the early hours. He was lying asleep in his tent and woke up with a car on top of him.

"A friend didn't see the tent and reversed on to it, right on to this chap.

"He was very lucky - one wheel went across his chest. It really could have been much worse than it was."

Doctors said if the car had travelled much further Mr Humphries would have been straight to intensive care instead of "limping his way back to Yeovil".

The owner of Culham Court said: "Richard is up and walking about and he's fine."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.