A 70-year-old man was left trapped in his 4×4 for nearly an hour after it came off one of the north-east’s busiest roads and crashed into a tree.
The man was left unable to escape his blue Land Rover Discovery on the A90 Aberdeen to Ellon road after coming off the northbound carriageway and careering into woodland.
The man was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary following the smash near Bridgend, Tipperty, at around 7am.
His injuries were not severe but his car was badly smashed.
Police, fire and rescue and ambulance teams were called to the scene.
An air ambulance was initially called to assist but was stood down and he was transported to ARI by road ambulance.
The 4×4 landed on its side after coming to a stop in woodland after it knocked down a fence.
It was left a mangled ruin, its bonnet and roof twisted and its windows smashed.
A police spokesman said: “A vehicle had gone off the road and into some trees. A man 70 years of age was trapped in the vehicle for a short time.
“The fire brigade attended to assist and he was released from the vehicle. His injuries were not thought to be serious. It came to us at 6.58am.”
An ambulance spokeswoman said: “We were called at 7.02am, one motor attended and transported the patient to ARI. He had minor injuries.”
Nobody else was involved in the incident.
A fire and rescue spokeswoman said that 10 firefighters were called to the crash scene.
She said: “We had two appliances there both from Ellon and we removed one person from the vehicle, a casualty, with cutting gear and spreaders. We got the stop message at 7.53am”
The A90 was not closed due to the incident.