"Little old lady” wreaks havoc in busy high street when she reverses into shop

The female pensioner accidentally ploughed through the glass frontage of Westover Gallery while trying to park her Toyota Yaris in High Street, Ringwood, on Thursday around 9.30am. No one was injured in the shocking incident.

All emergency services attended the incident before a cordon was put up and the scene made safe. The driver was not arrested. 

A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said: “We were called to a report of a single-vehicle collision with a shop on High Street, Ringwood at approximately 9.20am. The vehicle involved was a Toyota Yaris.

"South Central Ambulance Service was also in attendance. There were no reported injuries, and the vehicle has now been recovered.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said: "Firefighters from Ringwood and Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service were alerted to an collision on the High Street.

"The car involved had crashed into a shop, but fortunately no one was trapped. Working with the police, firefighters made the scene safe before leaving at around half 10."

Calvin Smith, director of the gallery, said: “A little old lady was parking her car down the road. She wasn't parked close enough to the curb so she reversed back. But she kept reversing at speed and bounced off the curb into our shop.

“She reversed half the length of the high street and then reversed straight in here, which is quite impressive.”

It is the second similar incident in the town in the last few weeks after a male pensioner accidentally hit the “throttle instead of the brake” and smashed into brickwork at A.M Autos on Christchurch Road. The garage has been shut since with the car remaining nestled in loose brickwork.

Ringwood’s High Street also had a bomb scare in February when a “suspicious” bag left in Lloyds Bank led to a bomb search dog and police attending the road and taking no chances by locking down the area. The road was reopened when it merely turned out to be someone had left their bag unattended.