A disabled teenager had a lucky escape when a car smashed through two gardens and ended up in the front of her home in the early hours of the morning.

Lynn and George Poullai and their two daughters, Jade 14, and Penny 15, were away from their house when the incident happened.

The porch and front room of the house, which is used as a bedroom for Jade, who is epileptic and partially-sighted, was extensively damaged.

A Proton car and a Vauxhall car, belonging to the family, which were parked on their driveway in The Crescent, Great Holland, were also severely damaged.

Next door neighbour Alfred Glading, 82, said he was woken up by a loud bang at about 4am on Saturday and saw a red Rover car embedded into his neighbour's property.

Mandy Tappenden of Kirby, Mrs Poullai's sister, said she had been going to Clacton at about 8am on Saturday morning and drove past the house.

She said damage was caused to the front room of the house, which was used as a bedroom for Jade, who is epileptic and partially-sighted.

Inside the room, the bed used to stand under the windowsill, but it has now been knocked down, bricks and debris scattered the floor and the children's design wall paper was torn from the wall.

Mrs Tappenden said: "She would have been asleep in there. It was fortunate that she wasn't there at the time."

A man has been arrested on suspicion of theft of a vehicle and released on bail pending further enquiries.

Published Monday August 19, 2002

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