A SALISBURY couple may not be able to return home “for months” after a driver smashed into their porch during an early hours crash.

Awoken by a “loud bang”, they originally thought two cars had collided outside their house in Cherry Orchard Lane at just past 12.45am last Friday.

But, when inspecting the incident out of their bedroom window, it was discovered that a SEAT Arona had instead ended up in the front of their home.

“To see the car in our porch was not what I expected,” said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous.

“There was a lot of damage both inside and out and we couldn’t get out of the house because the car was blocking the bottom of the stairs.

“A lot of our neighbours were outside, as was the driver.”

She added: “I don’t really understand how it happened.”

Both the police and fire service were called and it was judged that the home could potentially be structurally compromised.

The couple were then asked to spend the night at the rear of their home before having to move out whilst the damage was assessed by their insurers - which resulted in a structural engineer having to enter the building through the living room window.

“We do not know when we will be able to go back,” the resident added.

“Our insurance is currently dealing with it all, but they have not been able to give us a time[scale].

“It could be a few weeks, but more likely it will be months.”

The resident added: “But it could’ve been a lot worse if we had children or someone was in the room at the time.

“We have not lost anything of value, and our home will be fixed.”

Following the crash, the damage at the home was boarded up.

Police confirmed no further action was taken against the driver, but officers did inform the DVLA regarding the incident.

Regarding the crash, a force spokesperson said: “We were called to a single-vehicle road traffic collision at around 12.40am on Friday, March 29 where a vehicle had collided with a building in Cherry Orchard Lane, Salisbury.

“It involved a black Seat, but nobody was injured.

“We contacted the fire service and the local authority to deal with concerns about the safety and stability of the building.”