Car smashes into Southsea pub The Lawrence Arms leaving huge hole in the building

Alison Wearn and her husband Dev Wearn were sleeping in the top floor of the Lawrence Arms, Lawrence Road when the vehicle hit the 135-year-old pub, leaving an enormous hole in its front. The crash took place at about 3am after which the car’s driver apparently fled.

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Alison said: ‘We woke up to a massive bang and the whole pub shook. There was literally a car parked in the front of the pub. On the wall, there’s normally our licensed hours painted on the wall and that was on the floor, so I thought “there's something seriously not good with this.” When we actually walked down the stairs, we saw that we could see right the way into the road. We were really shocked.

‘There were people in it but I think the driver left - I think they didn’t actually get hold of the driver. Since then obviously it’s just been about making the building secure because it took out one of the main pillars.

‘They were scared that the front of the building would come down. If it had gone a little bit further, it definitely would have. I really don't know how long something like this is going to take and whether there’s going to be other issues.

‘Currently, now the cellar is flooded because all the radiators have come off the walls. We’d only been asleep for about an hour and a half. It’s like something out of Coronation Street.’

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Construction workers began the process of boarding up the cavity at around 9am today after the car had been removed earlier in the morning. Alison said that police officers and firefighters attended the scene and she thanked council workers for their help in securing the premises.

Dev added that the ceiling of the pub’s cellar had collapsed but the full extent of the damage is still being assessed. The pub will remain closed for the time being.

The Lawrence Arms has previously been named as Portsmouth and South East Camra’s Pub of the Year, and also its Cider Pub of the Year.