Owners of a sixteenth century pub, which was badly damaged when a car hit it, have said they were left “gobsmacked” by the incident.

Yvonne and Gary Phillips, landlords at the Kings Arms in Lawford in Essex, were awoken yesterday morning at 5am to find a crumbled black, convertible BMW on the road outside and a sizeable hole in the wall of their property.

Mrs Phillips, 67, said: “We were sleeping at the opposite end of the building and the crash didn’t wake me up. My husband said he’d heard something and I told him he was having a dream and to go back to sleep. Then our neighbour banged on the door.”

“There was water spraying everywhere because the car hit a pipe. It must have hit us with some force but we won’t know the full extent of the damage until we have had a structural survey.”

The accident left one man trapped in the BMW. Fire crews later released him and he was taken to Ipswich Hospital with serious injuries.

Another man, a 26-year-old of no fixed abode, who is believed to have fled the scene, was later stopped by police in Manningtree and arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and failing to stop after a road accident. He has been released on police bail until August 15.

The car also hit a telegraph pole which left a number of houses without electricity. Yesterday, technicians from the electricity board were working to get the power back on while council workers had earlier shored up the damaged wall.