A family had a lucky escape after a car ploughed across their garden and smashed into the front of the house just two days before Christmas.
A two-vehicle crash in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, sent a Ford Mondeo hurtling into the property of chef Trev Robinson leaving him with a “car sticking out of his house”.
The 42-year-old, who runs Trev’s Curries, was preparing food orders at his home in when a car veered into the hallway, while another ended up in a garden.
It later emerged that a Ford Mondeo and a Toyota Yaris were involved in a collision at the junction of Bridgewood Street and Goddard Street with the female driver of the Yaris taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital.
StokeonTrentLive reports the driver of the Ford, a 33-year-old man from Stoke-on-Trent, was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and has since been released under investigation.
Mr Robinson said he believes it was sheer luck that no-one was hurt in the house as customers were in and out collecting orders ‘every five minutes’ that afternoon. The last customer had left just four minutes before the smash, which happened at 5pm on December 23.
He told StokeonTrentLive: “There was an almighty bang. The house came unstuck like an earthquake or like a plane had come down. I looked out the window and could just see lights and mess and heard screaming in the back of the car.
“Everybody came out of the houses and the pub opposite. Fifty people were on the street straight away.”
Mr Robinson was with his partner Penny, her mum, dad, two teenage boys and the dog at the time. Despite the crash, he said he was able to fulfil all but “one or two” Christmas orders that night.
Trev said: “I was packing an order for a customer when it happened. Thankfully nobody was in the hallway. We keep the dog in there sometimes but he was in the conservatory.
“We were so lucky because on that day we had a collection for our curries for Christmas. People were turning up every five minutes to our door. It was so lucky nobody was at that door as it would have been horrific.”
The family still enjoyed Christmas Day at home and Mr Robinson added: “We had Christmas here, just six of us. We didn’t let it get to us. There’s not a lot we can do until the new year.”
A spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “On arrival, crews discovered two cars had been involved in a collision and there were three patients requiring assessment. The female driver of the first car was treated for injuries not believed to be serious and taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital for further treatment.
“The male driver and a female passenger from the second car were treated for minor injuries but did not require further treatment so were given self-care advice and discharged at the scene.”
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “We are appealing for information following a collision which resulted in a car colliding with a home in Stoke-on-Trent. It happened on Bridgewood Street, Longton, just before 5pm on Saturday (December 23). A black Ford and a silver Toyota collided.
“As a result, one of the cars collided with a home on the same street. The other car went into the garden. Thankfully, no one inside the building was injured. A woman, the driver of the Yaris, was taken to hospital for precautionary checks. A 33-year-old man, from Stoke-on-Trent and the driver of the Ford, was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving.”
