Woman reveals devastating moment car smashes into Portsmouth house amid utter destruction down road
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Clair Foster was sitting on her sofa waiting for a friend to pick her up for a dance class on Wednesday around 6pm when mayhem suddenly erupted in Guildford Road, Fratton. The 42-year-old was forced to run for cover as a white car ‘smashed into the house’ after it was in collision with a BMW - leaving the woman fearing the house could collapse.
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Hide AdThe mum-of-two told The News: ‘I was sat on my sofa when there was a great big bang and a car smashed into the house. The wall was smashed with bricks falling down, the radiator was hanging off and the carpet was lifted up. One side of the bedroom floor was left slanted.
‘I went outside and saw the white car holding up the front of the building. I checked to see if the two people were ok. I was shaking and tearful and was saying: “I don’t know what to do.” I was worried the building could come down.
‘I was the first one to come out of the houses...cars had been smashed all down the road. A lady then came up to me and gave me a blanket. When my friend arrived she took me into her car to calm down.’
Witnesses reported a BMW ploughing into several cars that were shunted into houses – leaving Ms Foster’s home structurally damaged. A 37-year-old was arrested for drug-driving amid chaotic scenes after collisions with around five cars.
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Hide AdPictures from the incident show a trail of destruction with three cars pushed against houses in the terraced road. A pedestrian reported minor injuries as a result of one of the vehicles – which hit a house – slightly connecting with her leg, police said. No other injuries were reported.
Residents were left fuming by the shocking scenes with an eyewitness saying angry people were ‘screaming’ and ‘shouting’ following the ‘carnage’ as a man was held by officers after leaving his vehicle.
Clair, whose children aged nine and 12 were out when the incident happened at the Vivid home she has lived in for nine years, added: ‘No one was injured but I don’t know how. All of the five cars have been written off and we are now waiting for a construction team to come out and look at the house. I’m not sure I want to go back now. I’ve been shaking and tearful seeing it since.
‘We have been told we will be in a hotel for three weeks minimum. I have one child with special needs and another with anxiety so it is not a good situation for them to be in. But at least they weren’t home when it happened.’
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Hide AdA police spokesman previously said: ‘We were called to reports of a collision involving a BMW and approximately five other cars on Guildford Road. A man was arrested on suspicion of driving whilst unfit through drugs.’