'I didn't realise a car had smashed into my house'

The car ploughed into the family's living room in the early hours of Sunday

A woman has recalled the moment a car smashed into her family's living room - and admitted she had not initially seen what happened due to dust and debris.

Alex Richardson, her husband and their two children were sleeping upstairs in their home in Nottingham in the early hours of Sunday when the vehicle crashed through their home.

She said when the family had first fled, the sheer amount of dust had blocked the view of the car, which by then was embedded into the home in Flamsteed Road.

"All four of us in the house, and our pets, we could have all been dead. That's a really, really scary thought," the 44-year-old added.

Nottinghamshire Police, which has arrested a 22-year-old man over the crash, said the driver of the car reportedly lost control at a roundabout, before mounting a kerb and smashing into the house.

The living room of the property was destroyed, with the fireplace and kitchen badly damaged.

Mrs Richardson said she had been told by structural engineers that if the car had affected the beam just above where the vehicle made contact, or if the fireplace had been damaged further, the house could have partially collapsed.

A crane was needed to extract the vehicle from the house and garden

Recounting the night, Mrs Richardson told the BBC she went to bed at about 23:00 BST on Saturday, before being woken by "the most almighty crash sound".

"My husband described it as like a bomb going off," she said. "I just heard the tinkling of all the shattering glass and everything."

She said she then ran out of her room to make sure her children were OK.

"I came out the bedroom and the dust was so thick I thought the house was on fire," Mrs Richardson said.

"I literally screamed at the kids, 'Get up, get some clothes on, we've got to get out'."

She added: "The dust was that thick we hadn't even realised that there was a car there.

"And then when we got outside, there were loads of people everywhere asking 'is anyone still left in the car?' We didn't know what they meant."

The car also smashed through to the kitchen behind the living room

After emergency services arrived, the man was detained on suspicion of several offences, including dangerous driving, drink-driving, criminal damage and aggravated vehicle taking.

An eyewitness, Macy Wardle, said she had come across a scene of destruction.

"Everything was destroyed, the curtain was outside the house, and then I saw the dad fighting back his tears," she said.

"I felt so bad for him because obviously it's a house you've made memories at, and now it's all been destroyed."

The family have had to sort through all of the damaged items to see what can be salvaged

As the family deal with the aftermath, they praised the support they had received from the local community.

"I've had neighbours galore, seriously, the neighbourhood has been amazing coming around offering support," Mrs Richardson said.

She said the crash had demolished many of family belongings, including a television, fridge freezer, tortoise habitat and "irreplaceable family heirlooms".

Mrs Richardson said the family would now be thousands of pounds out of pocket because "unfortunately" they did not have contents insurance.

She estimated the bill to replace everything would be "at least £5,000".

Mrs Richardson said the family had been exhausted by "non-stop" cleaning

Nottinghamshire Police confirmed the suspect has now been bailed with conditions as inquiries continue.

Sgt Danielle Richardson said: "I can only imagine how much of an alarming and distressing experience this must've been for the homeowners.

"Thankfully, nobody sustained any injuries in this incident, but that was purely down to luck and this taking place in the early hours of the morning."

Police confirmed that no-one was injured