Lucky escape for mum and daughter

Victoria Swift was nursing five-year-old Gabriella, who was suffering with a minor illness, in the front bedroom of their Station Road flat when the van hit.

"I honestly thought the roof had fallen off," said Victoria. "I didn't hear the screech of tyres, just the crunch of metal.

"I went outside to find a car embedded in my front wall.

"A policewoman who was on patrol nearby thought a train had de-railed, that's how loud it was."

The van had struck a brick wall in front of the property and had to be removed by a recovery crane.

Had it been just a few inches to the left, Victoria says it would have crashed right through the side of the building into her bedroom.

"When the police arrived and saw what had happened, the officer said to me, 'I hope you realise how lucky you are.'

"The wall the car hit was completely demolished. Just a tiny bit to the left and he would have been in my bedroom.

"Because the walls are so thin and made of concrete and flint, rather than brick, the van would have ripped right through."

Victoria called the police after the accident, but was in such a state of shock that she couldn't even remember her own name.

She then tried to console Gabriella, who was also stunned by the incident.

As reported in the Bexhill Observer on October 22, carpet shop manager Nathan Bachellier admitted causing the incident at Hastings Magistrates' Court.

Bachellier, of Ian Close, Bexhill, pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen and was fined 200 and banned from the road for a year.

The court heard the 31-year-old had had an argument with his wife on the night of his birthday and driven off to the pub in his work van.

Victoria said this week: "He may have been fined, but I still have to pay for my wall. The quotes I've had have all been in the region of 1,600.

"Not only that, but I had to pay to get the rubble removed from my driveway before I could get my car out!

"At 2.30 in the morning, I was left with a cup of tea, crying my eyes out. But it was a lucky escape for me and Gabriella."