There was a Christmas miracle in Braintree when a driver and an elderly couple survived a spectacular car crash relatively unscathed.

The accident happened at about 3.45pm on Christmas Day on the A120 at Rayne, near Braintree.

According to a police spokesman a Ford Escort left the road and collided with a cottage belonging to a couple in their 60s.

The car, which had been travelling towards Colchester, hit the cottage about 20 feet off the ground and exploded, setting both the vehicle and the home alight.

The spokesman said: "Both the car and house were engulfed in flames and both were totally destroyed."

He said it was thought the car may have collided with a wall, which had then launched it into the air.

The couple were unhurt but are unable to stay in their cottage, and were hoping to stay with relatives.

The driver of the vehicle was taken to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford with what police described as 'relatively minor injuries.'

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