‘OUR GARAGE HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY £50K JAGUAR’

Car being taken for repairs is ‘a write-off’

A FAMILY has been left out of pocket after a luxury car left the road, smashed through a wall and destroyed their garage.

Danni Malkin was shocked to receive a call at work from a neighbour, telling her a Jaguar had hit her Shelton property.

Council worker Danni has now been told their garage isn’t safe and needs emergency repairs following the incident on Monday.

The 36-year-old – who lives in Sun Street with her husband Chris, and children Theo, aged 13, and fiveyear-old Jenson – said: “I was in work at about 10.15am and one of my neighbours told me a driver had driven into my wall.

“I had to leave work to find out what had gone on.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw what had happened. It was just lucky there weren’t any pedestrians around, or that we weren’t in the garden.

“The driver was taking the car to a garage for repairs. The car owner will not be happy that their £50,000 Jaguar is a write off.

“Our garage is now not safe because of the damage. The council has been out and told me the building is not safe.

“I’ve managed to convince a builder to come and secure it for me, but I am going to have to pay him out of my own pocket.

“I’m not happy because my insurance company wants me to get two quotes for the work. But because of the time of year I can’t get anyone to come out. This is the last thing I need before Christmas.”

Husband Chris, aged 36, said: “A neighbour had just come back from a night shift. She heard a loud bang and went outside and saw the car and the driver.

“The impact caused bricks from the wall to hit the back door.

“The gate completely disintegrated and the back wall has been destroyed. We have been told that the whole garage has got to come down because it is not safe and we can’t leave it like that.

“My wife was awake all night because of it. We can’t even let the dog out into the garden at the moment.

“We are just lucky that no-one was in the garden and no pedestrians were walking past when it happened.”

A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “We received a report of a car, a maroon coloured Jaguar, colliding with a garage on Sun Street, Shelton, at 10.10am on Monday.

“Officers contacted Stoke-on-trent City Council and asked them to send out a structural engineer, because of concerns over the building.”