A COMMUTER pulled from the mangled wreck of her car following a horror crash said she felt "very lucky" to be alive after escaping with just minor injuries.

Roxanne Pozzi was driving to work in Headington when she was involved in a collision with a van and another car on a notorious S-bend on the B480 Stadhampton Road in rush hour on Tuesday morning.

Photos of the smashed-up remains of the car, which had its roof cut off by firefighters so they could free the trapped 31-year-old, were released by the fire service.

But despite the shocking state of the vehicle, the administrator only suffered a few fractured ribs but fears others might not be so lucky unless better safety measures are introduced.

Recalling the moment of the collision, the Berinsfield resident said: "The van clipped the car in front of me but carried on.

"It was literally a head-on collision. I crashed into the bushes and the back of my car was crushed with me in the middle."

"They [firefighters] took the roof off, and the side doors as well, and had to get some kind of jack to get the seat up off my legs.

"Then they had to break my seat so it would go backwards. My whole left side had been trapped. I am surprised I wasn't more hurt; I feel very lucky."

The other car driver in the crash was Kathryn Belcher, also from Berinsfield, who was on her way to work at Unipart when her vehicle slammed into the van going round the bend.

With a sheer drop on her side of the road, the 28-year-old remembered "panicking" to get out of the car and watching paramedics swarm over Miss Pozzi.

She said: "She was so, so lucky. I was so worried about her. They came over and said they had to deal with the other one and I said 'Go'.

"The scariest thing is that I can be as safe a driver as possible and something like that is completely out of my control. Neither of us did anything wrong."

Miss Pozzi, who also lost her hearing aid in the crash, called on Oxfordshire County Council to help ensure someone else does not suffer a worse fate by improving signage on the approach to the S-bend.

She said: "That corner is renowned for people going too fast and swerving into the other lane. It's a 50 road, but not on that corner.

"Just as you get to the end of the S-bend it says 30 but as you are going down the hill it's 50. It would be a good idea to move that 30 sign up, before the bend."

Paul Isaacs, the clerk of Stadhampton Parish Council, said it was a "very awkward" stretch of road and not the first time there had been an accident there.

He said: "Quite often residents have complained to the county council regarding the speed of vehicles going there, given the dangerous turns.

"We have been doing lots of signs and asking people to slow down. But we need to see whether that's adequate or new things need to be considered."

Thames Valley Police spokeswoman Jessica Rodgerson confirmed officers had been called to the scene at 8.21am and an investigation was ongoing.

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Paul Smith said: "There have been no accidents on that stretch of road linked to speed in recent years.

"The correct and impartial procedure would always be for any council to await the report of the police to determine the cause of any accident and then determine whether any subsequent action is required."