A Darlington business owner has described the terrifying moment a car crashed into her building while staff and customers were inside.
Emergency services rushed to Borough Road at about 11.20am on Tuesday after a car left the road and hit the T.W.S Security offices.
The crash happened just steps from Funky Fidgets, where owner Melissa Brunskill was livestreaming on Tiktok with colleagues when they heard the impact.
(Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
She said: "I had staff downstairs and a team with me upstairs on live and we heard a bang.
"We rushed downstairs and called 999.
"We had some customers in, a mother and a teenage boy, who were in when it happened.
"We usually have a queue out the door, it could have been fatal."
Funky Fidgets Shop and T.W.S Security offices. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
Melissa sent most of her staff home and closed the business until further notice while the building is assessed.
One employee said the crash could have ended far worse.
They said: "It could have been so much worse. We usually have a huge queue out the door."
The car crashed into T.W.S Security’s offices, with pictures showing an internal wall bowed inwards by the impact.
(Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
A spokesperson for Durham Police said: "At approximately 11.20am this morning, emergency services were called to Borough Road in Darlington following reports that a vehicle had left the carriageway and collided with the front of a retail premises.
"There are no reported injuries but damage to the building is being assessed."
The North East Ambulance Service said an ambulance crew and clinical team leader treated one patient at the scene.
The damage is being assessed, leaving the affected businesses waiting to learn when they can reopen.
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Funky Fidgets Shop was crowned The Northern Echo’s Best Independent Retailer earlier this year.
Sixteen-year-old founder Alex Stubbs began selling fidget toys online during the Covid-19 lockdown before turning the venture into a shop that attracts customers from across the country.
Since opening two years ago, the business has grown rapidly. Alex’s mum, Melissa Brunskill, quit her job in 2021 to support the shop full-time.