UPDATE: Man says Peugeot car that crashed into front of Old Portsmouth home was stolen from Leigh Park

A car has crashed into the front of a home in Old Portsmouth

A MAN has come forward to say the car that crashed into the front of a house in Old Portsmouth this evening is his and had been stolen.

Police and firefighters were called at 6pm this evening after a red Peugeot vehicle came off the High Street, opposite The Wellington pub.

The car ploughed into pavement railings and damaged the bottom of scaffolding attached to a house, though the property itself was not hit.

The person driving the car was not at the scene when police and firefighters arrived.

Joel Hatchard has since contacted The News to say that the car was his - and that someone had taken it from his Leigh Park home.

Joel, 20, said: ‘My car was stolen from outside of my house at the beginning of last week, and I hadn’t heard anything since.

‘I heard from my friend who works the doors of the Belgian Bar in Southsea that they had spotted it, but nothing came from it.

‘But then the police called me tonight to say someone had crashed it into some railings and the driver had disappeared.

‘I was flabbergasted. I couldn’t believe it. When I saw the picture in The News article, I said; “that’s my car”.

Southsea fire station crew manager, Alex Hay, said police arranged for the car to be recovered and taken away.

He said: ‘When the call came in, initially it was thought a car had gone into a building, so the emphasis was to ensure there was no immediate damage.’