A New Malden woman was counting her lucky stars in the early hours of Sunday, when a brick flew through her bedroom window while she was sleeping.

A car had careered off the A3, smashed into a wall and sent the missile hurtling into the bedroom windown of her ground floor Beverley Court flat.

The dark red Renault Megan was turning a sharp corner as it left the A3 at 4.30am on Sunday. The driver lost control, demolishing a section of a two foot brick wall in Beverley Court.

Firefighters said the front of the car was “completely obliterated” in the crash, and the five passengers were lucky to escape without major injury, although one 19-year-old woman was taken to Kingston Hospital with neck and back pains.

A neighbour called emergency services after hearing the crash. She said: “I was asleep and I just heard the noise. I thought something had fallen from the building.

“We saw them escaping from the car and after a few minutes the car went into flames. We were very stressed.

“The lady was really stressed. She could not imagine what had happened. She wanted to show me the window but I said no, it could really explode. It was like a film.”

Three fire engines, three ambulances and the police came to the scene, and the neighbour said the car was not removed until 8.30am.

A fire service spokesman said: “On hitting the wall the car sent a brick through a flat window which was opposite. It soared over a woman in bed and hit a wardrobe and showered her with glass.

“She was a little shocked as it is not something you expect when you are asleep. It went through the double glazing and so it must have made quite a bang.

“It was amazing that there were not any more serious injuries. The front of the car – there were different parts of it all over the place and bits of the engine all there.”

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