STUNNED members of a Suffolk family have relived the “incredible” moment a car crashed into their dining room as they slept upstairs.The relieved owners of the thatched cottage in Great Wratting, near Haverhill, escaped serious injury when the vehicle ploughed into their property early yesterday morning.

STUNNED members of a Suffolk family have relieved the “incredible” moment a car crashed into their dining room as they slept upstairs.

The relieved owners of the thatched cottage in Great Wratting, near Haverhill, escaped serious injury when the vehicle ploughed into their property early yesterday morning.

But Stephen and Louise Sunderland were last night anxiously awaiting engineering reports into the scale of the damage caused by the crash, which demolished the base of the cottage's chimney breast.

They spoke of their relief that no one was seriously hurt - particularly as their teenage son, Edward, was sleeping in the bedroom above the dining room when the vehicle hit their house.

And the 17-year-old said: “I was asleep when I felt the shock and ran to my parent's room.

“Out of the window I saw the driver staggering around so I brought him into the house and called the police.

“I did not know what was going on, I went from being totally asleep to being totally awake.

“It was right under my bedroom window and if it had been an hour later we would have all been in that room.

“I suppose its one way of waking up in the morning.”

Mr Sunderland revealed their property in Thurlow Road had been hit five times by vehicles in the 25 years they had lived there.

“We believe the car came round the corner and obviously lost control and went right through our house,” Mr Sunderland said.

“I don't even bother mending the fence any more, it happens so often. We have been pressuring to get something done about the road for many years.

“Our chimney is completely demolished and the car ended up in our dining room.

“We were all asleep but my son, whose bedroom is above, came screaming in to say a car had crashed into the house.

“There was an incredible impact - it shook tiles off the roof and we are all shaken up. It was a pretty interesting morning.”

A spokesman for Suffolk police confirmed officers were called to the property at about 6.15am yesterday.

The driver of the Hyundai car involved suffered minor injuries in the collision and was taken to West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds.