A COLCHESTER family were woken to the sound of a large bang after a lorry hit their home and then drove off. 

Rhian Baker-Mole and her husband were fast asleep inside the house on the corner of Barrack Street and Cannon Street when the hit and run happened on Thursday night. 

Mrs Baker-Mole said the family were woken at 2.30am by a bang and the house shaking. 

Police believe a heavy goods vehicle was responsible for the incident which left the property with external and internal damage. 

Mrs Baker-Mole went into her daughter’s upstairs bedroom and saw a tall vehicle which drove off. 

Gazette: Damage - Where the vehicle hit the property Damage - Where the vehicle hit the property (Image: Submitted)

She called the police who rushed to the scene. 

The vehicle hit the front door of the L-shaped property, with the family being able to see out into the street at one point.

Gazette: Support - Inside the house the walls caved in, needing supportSupport - Inside the house the walls caved in, needing support (Image: Submitted)

Mrs Baker-Mole said: “The metal work within and around the door is what saved the house though it has caused quite a lot of damage".

“We have been told its not safe to  live in while the work is done to the house.”

Gazette: Family - Liam Baker-Mole, Isla Mole, and Rhian Baker-MoleFamily - Liam Baker-Mole, Isla Mole, and Rhian Baker-Mole (Image: Submitted)

Mrs Baker-Mole said she been trying to get CCTV from a nearby corner shop to confirm the vehicle which hit her home. 

She is also appealing to neighbours on nearby streets for any doorbell footage.

Rhian said she was "relieved" her daughter Isla was not in the house during the crash and that Isla was finding it a bit hard to get to sleep with all the damage to the home.   

Mrs Baker-Mole added: “We would like someone to say it was an accident and own up to it.

“There are people’s lives in those houses, and they have just not cared.”

An Essex police spokesperson said: “We were called to reports of a single-vehicle collision at the junction of Barrack Street and Cannon Street in Colchester at about 2.30am on Thursday March 7.

“At the scene we found a building had sustained damage to an internal and external wall. The vehicle involved, believed to be a heavy goods vehicle, had left the scene.

“An investigation has been opened and our enquiries are continuing”.