Car smashes into side of Gornal cottage
This was the dramatic scene after a car careered off the road and smashed into a cottage – before the driver walked away from the wreckage.
Firefighters were called as a Honda Accord slammed into the home near to Gornal Crematorium, in Lower Gornal.
Emergency services said it was lucky the homeowner had not been in the cottage at the time of the crash.
They arrived to find the car sitting among shattered glass and debris inside the kitchen of the home.
The accident happened in Coopers Bank Road close to the junction of Barrow Hill Road, at around 8am yesterday.
Paramedics arrived to treat the driver, who was described as 'walking wounded', and did not require hospital treatment. Fire crews said the car had left the road, heading about 16ft over the pavement and a driveway before smashing through patio doors.
The vehicle was wedged inside the kitchen and had hit an internal wall before finally coming to a rest.
Crews from Dudley and Brierley Hill fire stations attended to ensure the car was safe and check the home for structural damage.
West Midlands Police arrived to provide support and ensure traffic was flowing along the busy road between Gornal and Himley.
One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "I was just brushing my teeth when I looked through to window to see the car.
"It was embedded about halfway inside the cottage and I saw fire crews trying to make sure the walls did not fall.
"It is a bit of a shock but we've had a number of accidents down here recently and I've told the council."
Watch commander Nick Lacey, from Brierley Hill fire station, said the homeowner was lucky not to be inside at the time of the accident.
"She would have had her car on the driveway which would likely to have bore the brunt of the impact," he said.
"When we arrived our first priority was to ensure there was no-one trapped under the car or inside.
"Luckily there wasn't and we were able to look at the structure of the building."
