Couple shocked as car smashes into Telford house - with pictures
A retired Telford couple were forced to leave their Telford home after a car veered off the road in wet conditions and crashed into it.
Emergency services were called to Holly Road in Dawley shortly before midnight on Sunday.
Neil and Jan Owen were advised to leave the house until a structural engineer had surveyed the property.
Fire crews from Telford, Tweedale and Wellington were on scene to make the area safe.
Mrs and Mrs Owen were getting ready for bed when the vehicle smashed into the cottage.
The car was travelling along Holly Road in the direction of Old Vicarage Road when it veered from the opposite side of the carriageway and crashed into the garage, leaving it with wall cracks right up to the bedroom above it and falling masonary.
Mr Owen, 73, a retired welder, said: "I was in bed and Jan was getting ready for bed when I heard a loud bump and a rumble like an earthquake. At first I thought she had dropped something or fallen over and she thought I had fallen out of bed.
"As I came downstairs I thought to myself that the noise had been quite loud. We realised that it wasn't either of us, so I went outside to have a look.
"When I walked out I saw a car turned across the road near the layby where the neighbours park. The driver was sitting in it and he was on his phone, but I couldn't see anything that he'd hit. I hadn't noticed the house, but when I turned round I saw the damage to the wall.
"It's was a bit of a shock for us. We didn't get much sleep, I think it was 4am before we got to bed.
"Some years ago another chap came off the same bend and crashed into our garden wall which I'd built and he just paid for the damage which was fine, but this time it's a lot more serious and going to cost lots of money to repair the wall. The cracks go right upstairs to the bedroom above it and there is falling debris on the bed.
"One of our daughters was staying in that room until she moved out recently and it's where the grandchildren sleep when they come. Thankfully they weren't here last night." The family have lived in the cottage for 41 years.
Mrs Owen, 66, a retired machinist, said: "It was pouring down with rain and of course the wind was howling. We're feeling very jumpy and on edge at the moment."
"We're not sure if we'll need to move out and if the roof will need to come off due to the splits running down the walls. but it's going to cost a tidy bit."
The emergency services cordoned off the road at the scene with red and white tape and orange cones following the incident which happened at 11.50pm.
Crews from Telford, Tweedale and Wellington attended the scene along with police.
Mr Owen added that a structural engineer and insurance assessors were due to visit and that they had been advised to evacuate the premises opposite Holy Trinity Church.
No one was hurt.
Kieren Bodill, a spokesman for West Mercia Police, said a 31-year-old man from Telford had been charged with drink driving and bailed to appear at Telford Magistrates Court.
