NEIGHBOURS have told of their shock after a car being pursued by the police careered off the road, crashed through five gardens and wrecked a number of vehicles.
The drama unfolded when the driver of a BMW M6 spun off the road at the junction of Daws Heath Road and Western Road in Thundersley.
The BMW hurtled through a garden on the corner of the two roads, crashed through the bushes into a neighbouring garden and smashed into a white transit van, ripping the cab apart.
The BMW flipped into the air and crashed through the next garden, writing off several cars.
The damaged transit van had pushed another car through the wall of a neighbouring garden and its bonnet was sent hurtling into the air, landing on top of a Mercedes four homes down.
Lynn Casey, 55, said: “We were watching an action movie in surround sound at the time ,so when we heard this great bang we thought it was in the film.
“It wasn’t until we came out foracup of tea and saw all these blue flashing lights everywhere and the carnage outside that we realised what happened.
“We feel so fortunate the car didn’t go through the house. If all our cars hadn’t been in the way or it had come in at a different angle, it could’ve gone through the house.
“I’m so surprised no one was hurt. Now it’s just all the upheaval afterwards we have to deal with.”
The road was closed for five hours after the crash on Friday at 9.20pm while forensic teams combed the scene and officers dealt with the wreckage.
Steve Lazarus, 54, of Daws Heath Road, Thundersley, said: “We were watching TV in bed with the dogs and suddenly we heard this almighty bang.
“It sounded like an explosion.
“A policeman said in all his years this was the most spectacular accident he had ever seen on a 30mph road that the driver walked away from.
“We couldn’t sleep because our minds were just buzzing from what happened.”
Susan Bartley, 58, of Daws Heath Road, said: “The noise was astronomical. When it happened, we just rushed outside and couldn’t believe all the damage. We’re just totally shocked.
It’s a miracle those two men got out and were walking around afterward.”
Two men were arrested at Southend Hospital in connection with the incident.
Kevin Austin, 27, of Seamore Avenue, Benfleet, has been charged with dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and using a vehicle without insurance.
He will appear at Southend Magistrates’ Court on September 9. A man, 40, Benfleet, who was also arrested has been released without charge
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