A SHOP assistant narrowly avoided injury when a driver smashed into a Canvey shop after veering off the road at a mini-roundabout.

Qaiser Khalid, 32, was working at the Seaview Mini Supermarket, on the corner of Seaview Road and High Street, when a white Volvo ploughed into the side of the shop.

Luckily, Mr Khalid had already begun putting down the shutters before the shop closed, or the car could have ended up inside.

He watched as goods were sent hurtling off the shelves by the impact.

Mr Khalid said: “I’d just shut all the shutters and came back inside, and two minutes later there was a loud bang.

“I was so s h o c k e d because the drink cases by the wall just got thrown across the shop and I didn’t know what had happened.

There was a guy s t a n d i n g just inside the shop where the car crashed and he could easily have been hurt, but thankfully he wasn’t.

“I rushed outside and the car was sticking out of the wall of the shop, so I immediately rang the police.

“The owner is so upset with what’s happened. I’m just so glad no one was hurt.”

The crash happened at about 9.10pm on Thursday, just before the store was due to close.

Police arrested a 57-year-old male driver on suspicion of drink-driving, but he was later de-arrested pending further questions. He was taken to S o u t h e n d Hospital with minor injuries.

Fellow shop assistant Isabel Anderson said she heard about the incident through Facebook.

She said: “It’s so dangerous.

Anyone could have been standing there. During the day we get a lot of children coming in and standing outside, so if it had been earlier it could have been a very different story. My daughter was on Facebook and she told me someone had gone into the shop.

“It can be a bit dangerous at the roundabout, and at the moment, with all the gas works going on, sometimes drivers coming out of Seaview Road don’t always give way to the right. It’s so lucky no one was hurt. ”

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Damage was caused to the front of the shop, but the initial assessment was it was structurally sound.

“Officers and paramedics attended the scene and the sole occupant of the car was taken to Southend Hospital.”