A Glasgow family had a narrow escape after a car crashed into their living room just 20 minutes after they went upstairs to bed.
Emmajane Hughes, 33, and her husband Ryan heard a huge crash when the vehicle smashed through the wall of their house in the Govan area of the city.
Shortly before the incident, they had been watching TV on the sofa after putting their three-year-old daughter Bella to bed.
“My couch has been halved in two – we were sat there just 20 minutes earlier. I don’t even want to think about it,” Emmajane told STV News.
“Builders told me if it had crashed a bit further in, my house would have fallen down on top of us.
“You see things like this in the news, but you never think it will happen to you. We are devastated. You should feel safe in your own home.”
The couple were in bed when they heard an explosion downstairs and the foundations of their house shaking.
They looked out the window to see the rear of a car in their garden, along with scattered debris and smoke billowing from downstairs.
Police were called, and two men who had left the scene were arrested.
Emmajane and Ryan are now living in a hotel with their daughter while builders repair their home, which they had spent around £40,000 to renovate.
Repair work is estimated to take around three months as the front of the semi-detached home has been reduced to rubble.
The cost of the work is set to total more than £80,000.
“My full living room is damaged,” said Emmajane. “The wood that holds the house up was everywhere. I had a car headlight in my kitchen.
“We had just got our home the way we wanted it. We had taken so long to get somewhere that could be our family home.
“I’ve cried constantly since it happened – every time I think about it.
“People say ‘you’re so lucky to be here, it could have been worse.’ That makes me even more upset, what could have been.
“I don’t know how I will feel going back there. I don’t know if I’ll ever feel the same again if I want to be back there.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 3.35am on Sunday, October 20, 2024, we were called to a report of a car crashing into a house in Crossloan Road, Govan.
“The two male occupants of the car left the scene. Emergency services attended, and the men, both aged 41, were traced nearby.
“They were taken to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, as a precaution.
“The property has been evacuated as a precaution.
“The men have been arrested in connection with the incident and released pending further enquiry.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country