Actor Rowan Atkinson was injured in sports car crash

Rowan Atkinson at the wheel of his McLaren F1 GTR sports car (PA)

Actor Rowan Atkinson left hospital in a wheelchair today after crashing his high-performance sports car.

The actor is believed to have suffered a shoulder injury after the accident on the A605 in Haddon, Cambridgeshire.

The 56-year-old Blackadder and Mr Bean star was driving his McLaren F1 supercar when it spun around several times, ran into a tree and a lamppost and caught fire, according to reports.

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 said Atkinson was admitted last night.

He left Peterborough City Hospital via a back door flanked by four security guards at about 3pm but did not comment.

Security guards escorting the actor, who was in a wheelchair, tussled with a cameraman as he left in a Harley Street private ambulance.

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.

A spokesman for PBJ & JBJ Management, which represents Atkinson, confirmed that the star had been involved in an accident but said he would not be commenting at this stage.

A Cambridgeshire Police spokeswoman confirmed Atkinson was routinely breathalysed at the scene and added that criminal charges were not being considered.

PA