Inches from death

Peter and Helen Smith were woken in the early hours of Saturday morning after a dark blue Vauxhall Calibra swerved off Ham Road in East Worthing and smashed into their neighbour's front wall.

Mr Smith said: "A section of brickwork just took off and bounced into the living room via the window. Flints flew off the walls like gunshots, taking out the rest of the windows. If I had been sitting in the lounge it would have taken my head off."

When the couple ran downstairs to investigate what happened, Mr Smith could not get out the front door because the car was jammed into it. The crash caused so much damage the entire front of the house needs to be rebuilt.

Building surveyors have told the Smiths the property is safe to live in - so long as they only use the back rooms.

This is the third vehicle to career into a building in Worthing in as many weeks.

Last week a Brighton man died after smashing a luxury coach into a block of flats in Tarring. And the week before, two people escaped serious injury when an elderly driver lost control of her vehicle and crashed through a breezeblock building housing Worthing Hospital's power generator.

Witnesses told the police they watched five people run away from the crash in Ham Road. The vehicle was left embedded in the house, the engine still running.

The car had been travelling out of Chesswood Road when it shot across the road and crashed into the property at around 2am on Saturday morning.

On Monday evening, its licence plate and part of the front bumper was still strewn among the debris and shattered glass littering the Smith's front garden.

"One we realised what had happened our main thought was to see if anybody had been hurt because it could have been a genuine accident but there was nobody in the car by the time we got round to it," said Mr Smith.

They are now calling for speed bumps or safety cameras to be installed along the busy road.

Mr Smith said: "I've lost count of the number of cyclists I have seen knocked off at that junction. My wall has been shunted in a minor accident. Something needs to be done out there."

Neighbours Jeanette and Mike Hughes can't use their front door and have to travel round the side to leave their house.

The couple, who have two children, Peter, nine, and Sally, 13, were asleep at the time of the crash.

Mrs Hughes said: "We were just woken up by a big bang. You just don't think cars are going to come crashing through your garden wall.

"We have lived here for 20 years and nothing like this has ever happened before."

Police said the car was reported as stolen and investigations are continuing. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the police.