'It was like a bomb had exploded' - Shocking video footage shows moment car crashed into family home in West Sussex village

Paige Amber, 32, was watching television – with her partner Joe, 40, her ten-year-old daughter and ten-month-old son – when a Ford Focus ploughed straight through the front of the family’s home.

The incident happened in Payne Way, at around 7.25pm, on Friday, January 2.

Paige told Sussex World that the car came straight through the house and into the staircase.

“We saw everything, because the lounge looks out onto the hallway,” she said. We were all just absolutely in shock, to be honest.”

She described freezing in disbelief before panic set in.

“I was shaking. I was just in a daze – I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” she said.

“Then I started crying, panicking and shaking.”

“There was just a hole in the wall and we could see the car in the house.

"Part of the bonnet had come off inside. There were bricks and debris everywhere. The staircase was demolished, the carpet and flooring were ripped up. Shoes from a cabinet at the bottom of the stairs had gone flying.”

Paige said the vehicle also struck the gas supply and damaged the electricity box, causing serious safety concerns.

Emergency services arrived within minutes, after neighbours rushed outside having heard the commotion.

"It was like a bomb had exploded,” Paige added.

“The police told us to get out of the house immediately because of the gas.

"We were all standing on the other side of the road because they were worried it could explode. Five minutes earlier I was just sitting watching TV – it was mental. At one point I thought I was going to faint.”

Paige said she was not allowed back inside to collect essential items.

“My baby didn’t have his bottles. I had nothing,” she said. “They told me I couldn’t go back in.”

Neighbours stepped in to help, bringing blankets and coats, and Paige sat in a neighbour’s car to keep warm. The family was later placed in emergency hotel accommodation.

“There was a massive hole in the wall for days,” she said. “Cats had got inside the house. I didn’t want everything to get damp and mouldy, but I think it’s gone past that now.”

In a post on a GoFundMe page set up after the incident, Paige said the emotional impact on her children has been severe.

“The shock and fear in their faces is something I will never forget,” she wrote.

"We are all deeply traumatised.

"Our home – the place where my children should feel protected – was destroyed in seconds.”

She added that structural damage to the property is so serious it has been deemed at high risk of collapse, meaning the family cannot return home or retrieve most of their belongings.

“We left with nothing,” she wrote. “No clothes. No personal belongings. No home to return to.”

Paige said her partner was later escorted into the house by emergency services to retrieve limited items, but the damage had already worsened.

In her GoFundMe appeal, Paige said she has always worked hard to provide for her family and found it difficult to ask for help, but said they are now starting again from nothing.

She added: “Any support, no matter how small, will help us cover basic essentials like clothes, food, temporary living costs, and help us begin the long road toward rebuilding our lives. Even sharing this page means more than you know.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading our story, for your kindness, and for helping my family during the darkest moment of our lives.”

If you would like to donate, please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/raise-money-for-clothes-food-and-shelter