St Albans family left picking up the pieces after porch is demolished by out-of-control car

A family whose porch was smashed off the front of their house after a driver veered off the road say they have they have a “huge amount of work” ahead of them.

Michael Johnson was at work on Thursday when he received a phone call at about 3.20pm from a neighbour who said: “There’s a car in your porch.”

He said: “I thought it was bound to be one of these boy racers but I rushed home; luckily the kids were out, and, sure enough, found a Nissan Micra firmly embedded in our porch.

“The police and ambulance were trying to get a woman out of the car. An air ambulance landed on the green, but the lady came to and they took her away in an ambulance.

“It’s disruptive to say the least.”

The woman in her 40s, who is thought to have had a seizure at the wheel, was rushed to Watford General Hospital in a reduced state of consciousness while the authorities worked on removing the car from the house on Camp Road.

When the car was finally pulled out, the roof of the 18-month-old porch collapsed onto the driveway. What remains is a pile of rubble, coats, shoes and bags.

According to Michael, his eight-year-old son and four-year-old daughter have had trouble sleeping in the house since the crash.

He said: “As soon as my son saw it he burst into tears. They’re both worried the house is going to collapse.”

While salvaging shoes, coats and bags from the bricks and mortar, the children found the car’s silver Nissan sign.

Michael said: “We’ve collected what we can. We’ve got the insurance company assessing it next week so we’ll just wait and see.

“There’s structural damage and we’re going to need a new porch.”