A PENSIONER is recovering today after a car ploughed into her flat in a sheltered housing complex.

Naomi Gornall

A PENSIONER is recovering today after a car ploughed into her flat in a sheltered housing complex.

Residents of Old School Court in Violet Hill, Stowmarket told how they heard a huge bang and felt the building shake after the orange Ford Focus crashed into it yesterday evening.

The three-storey building was evacuated and many residents had still not returned this morning after the drama which began at around 7.10pm yesterday.

It is believed the woman who lived in the flat the car crashed into was taken to another sheltered accommodation unit for the night.

June Goodchild who lives within the complex said she was sitting in her chair in her front room when she heard a terrible bang and felt the building shake.

She added: “It must have come straight down Childers Road and it went straight into the lady's living room.

“She had a cut on her head and last night they were ringing relatives to pick up some of the residents.

“It was just the noise of it. A terrible bang and people upstairs felt the building shake too.”

Another neighbour who does not want to be named said she was making dinner at around 7pm and heard a big bang.

She said: “The next thing I knew was I could see a car in the living room of one of the flats and there were police everywhere.”

No one was injured in the incident and police will not be investigating it further.

A Suffolk Police spokesman said: “A car went into a property in Violet Hill Road. It caused damage to the building. We evacuated the building in case anything would happen.

“Recovery was called to winch the vehicle out of the building.”

Crews from Stowmarket, Needham Market and Princes Street were called to the scene as it was believed at first that someone was trapped. On arrival the crews used some special equipment to ensure the building remained safe until the building inspector got to the scene to properly survey the structural damage.

A building engineer from the council arrived to assess the damage and judged that the structure was safe so the residents were allowed back inside. A recovery vehicle was called to winch the car from the building.

The incident was over by 9.30pm.