CELEBRATED Exmoor-based explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes escaped serious injury when he was involved in a three-car crash in Greater Manchester.

Sir Ranulph, the oldest Briton to reach the summit of Mount Everest, apparently swerved into the opposite carriageway in the crash in Stockport on Saturday.

His Jaguar collided with a Nissan Micra travelling the opposite way on the A6 and then struck a Ford Focus.

Sir Ranulph, who was 66 on Sunday, was not seriously hurt but received treatment. Witnesses said he was "bloodied and dazed".

The male driver of the Nissan suffered leg injuries which were not thought to be life-threatening.

A five-year-old child in the vehicle was also injured but their condition was not believed to be serious.

Sir Ranulph had been in the area in order to compete in the 42-mile High Peak Marathon in Derbyshire as part of a veterans' team called Poles Apart.

He was the first man to visit both the North and South Poles by foot and last May, at the age of 65, he climbed to the top of Everest, the world's highest peak, to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.