Update: TV star Rowan Atkinson in hospital following Cambridgeshire crash
23:35 04 August 2011
Rowan Atkinson is reported to have shoulder injuries.
Archant
TV comic legend Rowan Atkinson cheated death last night after a collision in his McLaren F1 supercar, it has emerged.
He was hospitalised with a shoulder injury after his vehicle left the A605 at Haddon, around 7.30pm.
The 56-year-old Blackadder and Mr Bean star was reportedly driving when his high-performance car spun around several times, ran into a tree and a lamppost and caught fire.
The actor is said to have walked from the vehicle and was with a passing motorist until emergency services arrived.
A spokesman for Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals today said Atkinson was in a stable condition and is expected to be released later today.
A spokesman for the star has not yet commented on the incident.
Atkinson, known to be a car enthusiast, recently topped the leader’s board on Top Gear’s Star in a Reasonably Priced Car contest.
He told presenter Jeremy Clarkson he was keen on racing and was currently driving a 1964 Ford Falcon.
But his racing background did nothing to quell his nerves before taking on the challenge, he admitted.
In a clip of the show uploaded on to YouTube by the BBC on July 22, Atkinson said people would “assume that in the reasonably priced car I will be very good when there’s absolutely no guarantee of that whatsoever”.
The star notched up the fastest time on the show, completing the circuit in 1 minute 42.2 seconds.
Atkinson is best known for his work on Not The Nine O’Clock News, Blackadder and Mr Bean, in which his hapless character drives an old Mini.
