Tattershall couple reveal details of their ‘great escape’

A Tattershall couple say they are lucky to be alive after a car ploughed into the front of their Market Place home in the early hours of the morning.
Lucky escape: Janet O'Regan in front of her boarded up house front. Picture: John Aron.Lucky escape: Janet O'Regan in front of her boarded up house front. Picture: John Aron.
Lucky escape: Janet O'Regan in front of her boarded up house front. Picture: John Aron.

Janet O’Regan (82) was asleep in an upstairs bedroom just after 12.20am on Sunday, January 6.

Her husband Daniel (78) -still troubled by injuries suffered in a golf course accident six years ago - was sleeping downstairs

According to Mrs O’Regan, the car:

The mangled railings between her front garden and a neighbour's property. Picture: John Aron.The mangled railings between her front garden and a neighbour's property. Picture: John Aron.
The mangled railings between her front garden and a neighbour's property. Picture: John Aron.

•left the main A153, crashed into her car which was parked on the roadside

•careered through a wall and railings - and the wall and railings shared with a neighbouring property

• ploughed through the front garden

•crashed through the front wall of their home before...

The house has been bordered up after the crash. Picture: John Aron.The house has been bordered up after the crash. Picture: John Aron.
The house has been bordered up after the crash. Picture: John Aron.

•embedding itself through the front of their house with its ‘nose’ in the study.

Mrs O’Regan says only the fact the house was sturdily built in 1868 stopped her bedroom collapsing.

She adds that if the car had taken a course 10 yards to the right, it would have ended up in the room where her husband was.

Mrs O’Regan said of their close call: “We were very lucky. In fact, the emergency services told us we are lucky to be alive. It could have been a lot worse.”

Incredibly, it is not the first time the couple have seen their peace shattered by a crash.

In fact, there have been THREE other incidents in the last 12 months.

•Last winter, a driver crashed into three cars parked near their home .

•Then, another car careered into grass and trees in the Market Place opposite

•Last October, a car ended up in the front garden of a neighbour’s house.

And, a few years ago, Mr O’Regan’s car was written off when it was ‘crushed’ by a fully loaded car transporter attempting to reach the village fish and chip shop!

Despite all the events, Mrs O’Regan says the couple have no plans to move, even though family and friends have suggested they might feel safer.

Amazingly, Mrs O’Regan says she is sleeping well at night!

But, she recalls how she was woken by a ‘horrible’ noise’.

She added: “I knew there had been an accident but when I looked out the main road was clear.

“When I looked again, I saw the front wall had disappeared - along with the wall and railings between us and next door. Then, I looked down and saw the car with its front end in the study!”

Mrs O’Regan says it was a ‘miracle’ the driver got out of the car and was walking around the front garden.

She added: “His side airbag had inflated - but not the front one. He was very lucky.”

A section of iron railing was ‘impaled’ through a section of glass in their neighbour’s front door.

Mrs O’Regan dialled 999 and says ‘within minutes’ five police cars were joined by two ambulances and a fire engine.

She was treated for shock but refused to go to hospital.

She explained: “One minute I felt fine, but when what had happened started to sink in, I went all wobbly.

“The paramedics were brilliant. All the emergency services were absolutely brilliant. In fact, the firemen even replaced one of our alarms in the hall before leaving!”

The study contained 3,000 books which although covered in dust and debris, appear to be undamaged.

Insurers and surveyors have inspected the house-front but Mrs O’Regan admits the couple have no idea how much the repair bill will be - or when (and how) the patterned wall will be repaired.

She believes her own car could be written off too.

She added: “I went on a radio phone-in last September and highlighted how dangerous this bit of road is, but I was told by an expert that your conception of something is worse than the facts.

“I wonder what that expert thinks now?”

•Police say a Vauxhall Vectra was involved in a collision with a house and that a man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of drink driving. He was later released without charge.