Couple homeless after car crashes through window

Three people, all occupants of the car, were seriously injured in the incident

A couple left homeless after a car smashed through their front window have said they are "still in shock".

Marc and Mark Talbot-Phillips told the BBC they felt "very lucky" to be unharmed after the crash on Long Load Road in Stapleton, near Martock, Somerset, shortly after midnight on Sunday.

Three occupants of the black Audi A4 were seriously injured in the crash said Avon and Somerset Police.

Marc Talbot-Phillips, who had been sitting in the living room - in the direct path of the vehicle - just minutes before the incident, described seeing flames coming from the car through "a cloud of brick dust".

Marc Talbot-Phillips was sitting in the exact spot the car smashed into just minutes before the incident

He said he grabbed a bucket of water to put out the flames.

He said: "If that went off we both could have died, the house could have fallen down."

It was only after putting out the fire that he saw there were three passengers still in the car.

"The driver managed to get himself out," he said.

"All he wanted to do was run, just get away, so he pushed me into the hedge [...] opened the gate, and shot off down the road."

The couple are likely to be homeless "for some time"

The area, Marc Talbot-Phillips explained, was known for "speeding" and "joy riders", with tyre marks "always" visible along the road.

"We've joked before that one day a car's going to come through our window," said Mark Talbot-Phillips. "It's not a joke, not anymore."

Describing the "almighty smashing, bashing, crashing sound" and mud coming "through the window", Mark Talbot-Phillips added: "I wouldn't want to relive it for anything, I'm reliving it every hour now almost."

The couple, he said, were "still trying to deal with it".

He added: "There's a lot we need to deal with and we don't really know where to start.

"I think we're going to be homeless for some time."

The house has had to be reinforced with structural support

The car had smashed through a low wall and iron fence.

Next door neighbour Clare Tavener described hearing a "terrific bang" and immediately rushing outside after seeing the "carnage" in the front garden.

The Talbot-Phillips' house was structurally damaged in the incident, with crews having to use props to stabilise it, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said.

Mrs Tavener described the scene as "carnage"