Love of EastEnders helped save my life - Lucky escape for pensioner as car smashes through Wolverhampton house

The mother-of-five had been enjoying a doze in her conservatory but hurried into her living room to catch the start of her favourite soap.

But just moments later, the conservatory was no more after a car came careering down a steep hill and smashed through the windows, leaving a trail of carnage.

"I went back into the conservatory and there was a car right in the spot where I had been sitting," said Mrs Lampart, who is a retired care worker, from Hall Lane, Bilston.

"I had to rub my eyes because I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"I did think about staying in the conservatory to watch the television through the door into the living room.

"I'm very lucky I changed my mind for some reason.

"If it wasn't for EastEnders coming on I would have still been in there and God knows what would have happened."

It is believed the car, a silver Nissan Almera, rolled down the steep bank from outside a house at the back of Mrs Lampart's home when its owner left the handbrake off.

It smashed through a large wooden fence and then through the front panel of the conservatory before coming to rest two metres inside the rear extension of the house.

Mrs Lampart said she usually spends several hours a day in her conservatory, and had gone in there at around 4pm on Tuesday before the drama unfolded.

"It was a nice afternoon and I must have fell asleep," she said. "When I woke up I could hear the Emmerdale music coming from the television.

"I like Emmerdale so I was worried that I'd missed it, but knew EastEnders would be starting soon.

"It was an almighty bang.

"I just thought 'oh my God what's happened now?'

"The neighbours came around and someone called the police."

She has lived in the detached house for the last 11 years. Her husband, Howard, died last year.

Mrs Lampart said the owners of the car, thought to be a young couple, had apologised to her after the incident.

"They were shocked and kept telling me how sorry they were," she added.

Yesterday, Mrs Lampart surveyed the wreckage of her conservatory.

"Some of the furniture was damaged and the rest has had to be moved out," she said.

"It was a lovely place to sit and relax and I have spent a lot of time in there, especially when the weather starts to get warmer.

"I'm waiting for the insurance company to deal with it now so I can plan to have it rebuilt in time for the summer."

Fire crews from Bilston and Dudley attended the scene and assisted with the removal of the car. Recovery firm, Burke Brothers of Wolverhampton led the operation to pull the vehicle clear from the wreckage.

Sam Burke, a director at recovery firm Burke Bros Recovery, said that it was lucky no one was in the conservatory at the time of the incident.

"It had rolled down another street when a man left his handbrake off when he got out of his car," said he said.

"It was a bit of a job getting it out – there was petrol leaking from the car and it took about two hours.

"It's definitely one of the more unusual call-outs we've had."

Watch commander Ade Cope from Bilston Fire station said: "It was a lucky escape for the residents who were living there as they had just moved away from the conservatory area of the house just before the crash took place – they could have been badly hurt."

Structural engineers were due at the site yesterday to examine the extent of the damage.