Pensioner dodges death by going to toilet as car crashes into his house

‘If he hadn’t have moved the wall would have landed on top of him,’ says daughter

A pensioner narrowly avoided death when he got up to go to the toilet seconds before a car crashed into his bungalow.

Stan Miller had been writing Christmas cards to his family in his sitting room when he got out of his armchair to answer the call of nature.

The 75-year-old grandfather-of-nine had just reached the hallway when a Vauxhall Corsa car smashed through the wall.

“If he hadn’t have moved the wall and window would have just landed on top of him,” said Mr Miller’s daughter Denise Flood. ”The front end of the car is sat in the middle of the room.”

Ms Flood added: “It’s the sort of thing you see on the telly but you don’t expect it to happen to your own family. A neighbour called me from dad’s phone to say what had happened. Luckily I only live up the road so I was here within seconds. I’m just really glad he’s ok.”

The driver of the car, a 32-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of drink driving at the scene in Northfields Avenue, Cambridge.

Cambridgeshire Police said in a statement that the driver remained in custody.

It added: "The black Vauxhall Corsa remains at the scene while structural engineers decide whether the property is safe.”

Structural engineers are now trying to work out whether the bungalow is structurally sound and the car can be removed.

Mr Miller said nothing had crashed into his home in the 20 years he had lived at the house, located on the corner of a T-junction with a mini-roundabout.

While at the scene a passerby was heard shouting, “That’s what I call a drive-thru.”

Mrs Flood said: “We’ve had a few comments like that but it’s just not what you want to hear – it’s not helpful. He’s a very private man and hates that we’re all worrying about him.”

SWNS