JOYRIDERS have crashed a car into the side of an elderly couple’s home smashing straight through their kitchen wall.

The vehicle careered through the wooden fence and the brick wall of the semi-detached house.

Gazette:

Damage - The wreckage to the kitchen after the crash was posted on Facebook

Thankfully, the couple were not injured in the incident which happened at the junction of Olivers Road and Wellesley Road in Clacton.

The car, a black BMW X5, was found to have been stolen overnight from an address in Cleave Close, Clacton.

A neighbour of the damaged house, who wants to remain anonymous, said his landlady was woken up by the noise of the crash.

He said: “My landlady believes there were three men involved in the incident who ended up crashing the car right through the house in to the kitchen.

“She saw one of the men climb over the top of the car and run away so she tried shouting across to them to get people’s attention.

“This is about the sixth or seventh times a car has hit into a home around here in the past ten years but this is the worst one I have seen.”

Police were called shortly after 12.41am on Sunday and the fire service was also called to check the gas and electricity supplies were safe.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Witnesses reported seeing two or three people leaving the car and running off.

“The collision caused some structural damage to the house.”

The Essex Fire and Rescue Service was called to the incident at 12.54pm.

An Essex Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “A car had crashed into a house.

“No-one was trapped inside the vehicle but crews made the scene safe and isolated the properties utility services as a precaution.

“Firefighters left the scene in the care of the police.”

The aftermath of the crash was put on Facebook by the daughter of the couple who lived in the house.

A photo showed the extent of the damage.

Metal fencing has now been put around the property to secure it.

Anyone with any information about the accident or the men responsible is asked to contact Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.