IT could only happen to Mr Bean.

Funnyman Rowan Atkinson was travelling along the A6 in Forton on Monday afternoon when the car he was driving - a £660,000 McLaren F1 - was in collision with a Metro.

Luckily Rowan and the driver of the Metro, Mrs Margaret Greenhalgh of Forton, escaped serious injury.

But the comic genius, star of Blackadder and the popular Mr Bean series, didn't find it funny when the press arrived on the scene.

Spotting the photographers, the hapless hero sneaked into a nearby frozen meat warehouse where he hid himself from view.

While the press packed waited outside, the rubber-faced comic hatched a cunning plan that even Baldrick would have been proud of.

A frozen meat van with its doors open was reversed up to one of the warehouse doors and, as a couple of children keen to see their hero screamed "There he is," he was whisked away.

The pack dived into their cars in hot pursuit of Mr Bean in the back of the frozen meat van as it sped along the narrow country lanes.

The TV star headed straight to Forton Services where a private car picked him up and drove him to Carlisle.

Mr Bean had gone but not without leaving his mark.

Acting Divisional Officer at Lancaster Fire Brigade, Phil Draycott, who was one of the first on the scene said: "We were very surprised to see Rowan Atkinson. I was a bit taken aback. He was fine but didn't say much, he just stood there. He was very concerned about the lady."

Margaret Greenhalgh, 62, was taken to Royal Lancaster Infirmary with whiplash injuries following the accident but was later discharged.

Her husband, Robert Greenhalgh, told reporters: "My wife was shaken up but she's all right. Mr Atkinson was very nice about it all. He's rung two or three times to see how Margaret is."

News of the incident was quick to spread around the world.

The Citizen received a call from a reporter in Ottowa, Canada, hungry for all the details.

"Our big boss is a massive fan of Mr Bean - he wants to know exactly what happened."

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