A man who plummeted 50ft from the top of a multi-storey car park had a "remarkable escape" from death.

Shoppers saw the 21-year-old man fall from the fourth level of the Meadows multi-storey car park in Baddow Road, Chelmsford.

His escape without so much as a broken leg is thought to be down to landing in a patch of pea shingle, a type of small stone gravel usually mixed with soil to stop weeds growing.

Sgt Jo Byrne, of Chelmsford police said the man, who declined to comment, is in Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford. She said his injuries are not thought to be life threatening.

Sgt Byrne said: "It was a remarkable escape - it is a 50ft drop."

She said police are satisfied there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the fall but would like to hear from witnesses who may have seen the man driving an Areg silver Ford Fiesta into the shopping centre car park just before 12 noon on Friday.

Malcolm Tilsed, manager of The Meadows, said: "This is the first fall we have had in ten years and we are pleased to hear the gentleman is okay.

"What tremendous luck he survived."

Published Wednesday, March 20, 2002