Lucky escape for driver who crashed through front of Lee-on-the-Solent Royal British Legion office

Just after 3.20pm today an elderly woman parked in High Street, Lee-on-the-Solent, hit the wrong pedal on her automatic Volkswagen and it shot straight into the Royal British Legion office.

Luckily the building was empty at the time and, incredibly, the driver walked away unhurt.

Debbie Watts, a member of the Lee-on-the-Solent Royal British Legion committee, said she was shocked to receive a call telling her what happened.

Mrs Watts said: ‘At first I thought it had just hit the building, I couldn’t believe it when I arrived and saw it had actually gone straight through it and the car was actually inside.

‘It seems it was an elderly lady driving an automatic and she put her foot on the accelerator by mistake.

‘But how she ended up in there I’ll never know. We just don’t know how she did it.

‘She wasn’t hurt, which is the main thing. And, fortunately, there was nobody inside. There is a meeting scheduled for next Thursday so that would have been a very different story.’

Part of the street was cordoned off while the vehicle was recovered. Paramedics checked the driver over but she was uninjured.

Debbie Beattie, from Churchers Bolitho Way, opposite, said: ‘It was very dramatic. My colleagues and I were flabbergasted.

We just couldn’t believe it. It’s not the kind of thing you expect to see.

‘I’m glad she wasn’t hurt.’

According to people working on High Street, it’s not the first time such an accident has happened.

In the past few years the Co-op and a nearby betting shop have both been hit by cars.

Firefighters from Gosport Fire Station were sent to the scene. Crew manager Robbie Burns said: ‘A lady was driving a Volkswagen with an automatic gear box and it would appear she pushed the wrong pedal.

‘The car mounted the kerb and went into the front of the shop.

‘Fortunately no-one was injured.’