A driving instructor has told of his lucky escape after a pupil lost control during her first lesson and crashed into a tree.

Steve Lightfoot was teaching the learner driver at 10.45 am today (Friday October 19) when she clipped the kerb, steered hard to the left and ploughed into a tree off the A12 at Corton, near Lowestoft.

Mr Lightfoot, who works for Ignition driving school throughout Lowestoft and Norwich, said it was the first time he had taken the woman out for a lesson – although she had completed 30 hours of driving with another instructor.

Speaking about the ordeal, which caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage, Mr Lightfoot said the driver had crashed because she tried to overcompensate the steering after hitting the kerb. He added: 'Luckily there were no injuries. It all happened so quickly that I didn't have time to respond. It is a testament to new cars that we were OK because the front of the car was badly damaged. I am surprised the air bags didn't go off.'

Police arrived at the incident on the Yarmouth Road near Corton Long Lane at approximately 11am.

There was little disruption to traffic and the Peugeot 207 was recovered by 12.45pm.