Numerous gravestones, some dating back to the 1920s, were also destroyed in the crash.

A man who allegedly returned a positive breath test after flipping his luxury car onto graves at a Sydney cemetery has caused thousands of dollars of damage.

February 6, 2018

An alleged drunk driver is lucky to be alive after his airborne Mercedes ploughed through a sandstone wall at a historic cemetery in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, destroying a dozen gravestones and landing upside down.

NSW Police say the damage bill at the South Coogee cemetery, which has been in operation since 1874, will be “significant”.

The 48-year-old driver suffered injuries to his face and abdomen when his black sports hatch took out the stone wall of the cemetery then flew through the air to land upside down in the early hours of Tuesday.

The Mercedes came to rest some 10 metres inside the cemetery, desecrating headstones that dated back to the 1920s.

The driver is in a stable condition in St Vincent’s Hospital where he underwent further mandatory testing after allegedly returning a positive roadside breath test.

Police inspect the scene at the historic South Coogee cemetery.

“The car has travelled through the wall at high speed,” Inspector Michael Merrett told reporters at the cemetery.

“It’s impacted the ground. It has flipped and landed upside down. The fact that he was able to be conveyed in an ambulance in the first place is fairly telling that he is an exceptionally lucky man.”

The driver caused “a significant amount of damage” to the cemetery and the repairs wouldn’t be cheap, Insp Merrett said.

“Some of these graves are quite old,” he said.

A gravestone dating back to 1924 belonging to Private Andrew Knox is among those destroyed.

Randwick City Council engineers spent the morning inspecting the damage while a crane was used to remove the wrecked vehicle.

“It’s not a cheap exercise, it’s a sandstone retaining wall, so we’re talking a reasonable sum of money (for that),” a council spokesman told AAP.

“Our thoughts are with the driver of the vehicle for a speedy recovery.”

Detectives are urging anyone with information about the vehicle to come forward.

“We are exceptionally lucky it happened late at night when there were no other people around so there were no other bystanders. It is a busy area. It is a busy intersection normally,” Insp Merrett said.

The driver is expected to be charged.

The allegedly drunk Mercedes driver is “exceptionally” lucky, police say.