A British expatriate might have been crushed to death had it not been for his quick-thinking Marsascala neighbours who promptly lifted his wife’s car when the jack propping it up snapped.

Gingerly massaging his swollen neck, Scotsman Thomas Dadds, 68, who has lived in Malta for the past four-and-a-half years, recounted his brush with death on Sunday.

When his wife tried to start her car, a maroon Daewoo, she heard a loud bang and the car refused to budge.

Mr Dadds, who often repairs his own cars, turned the ignition and realised that the noise was coming from the front wheel.

I felt my head being crushed. I screamed

“I jacked it up, removed the front wheel, went round to the front of the car and slid my head beneath it.”

Suddenly the screw thread snapped and Mr Dadds was trapped, with the bottom of the radiator pressing against his head while the skirting was pressing down on his neck, choking him.

“I felt my head being crushed. I screamed. My wife, who was on the balcony, ran down to the street, screaming. I could see my whole life flash before me.”

Luckily, being a Sunday, a number of people were out in the normally quiet street.

Seeing the commotion, about five people rushed over to the car and propped it up enough to allow Mr Dadds to roll over on his side and free himself from the clutches of death.

“Had I remained trapped beneath the car for a few more minutes, I would have choked to death,” he said. “I am extremely grateful to my neighbours and to the paramedics.”

Fearing he had broken his neck, paramedics strapped his head up and he was rushed to hospital. It turned out he had a badly bruised and swollen neck but no broken bones.

“It’s still very painful and I was instructed to take painkillers every hour. Sleeping is difficult. But I’m thankful to be here.

“One word of advice from my experience: never go under a car.

“Back at home, I used a trolley jack which is safer since it is equipped with two tripods which support the car.

“I never imagined it would snap and that I would be nearly choked to death by the weight of the car.”