A DRIVER was taken to hospital after the car he was driving ploughed into the gable end of a building.

The collision, involving a Vauxhall Zafira, demolished the bathroom wall of a house on School Terrace and Salisbury Street in South Moor, Stanley.

It is understood the car also hit three other vehicles further up the back lane before driving over a grassed area and into the building.

The Northern Echo:

The car became wedged into the property 

The alarm was raised at 8.10am on Thursday morning.

The man who lives in the upstairs flat said: “I heard a bang and looked out my window and there was a car halfway through the door.

“I came downstairs and helped get the guy out of the back seat.”

The man, who does not wish to be named, said the motorist was ‘compos mentis’, adding it could have been far more serious.

He said: “He has been lucky as he has hit the door rather than the wall.

“The car was halfway into the property.

“He is lucky it has given way.”

“If he had hit the wall I think he would have been dead.

“The ambulance people turned up and I just left them to it.”

The man, believed to be in his 70s, was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham by an ambulance for treatment and police attended to make the area safe.

Durham Constabulary said the extent of his injuries were not known.

No-one was in the downstairs property at the time of the incident.

The Northern Echo:

The aftermath of the collision 

A structural engineer from Durham County Council was also called out to assess the building.

Simon Meneer, the landlord of the property, was on the scene within minutes to begin the clear-up operation.

He said: “We are going to get it back into use as soon as we can but obviously we have got a tenant and he has got to be prioritised.

“Hopefully, the fella who was involved makes a speedy recovery and he is alright.”