IT was a rude Sunday morning awakening for Ian and Lyn Stratton after a car careered off the road, crossed their front garden and ended up embedded in the front wall of their Hampshire home.

The incident happened yesterday on the outskirts of Romsey at Hope Cottages, Yokesford Hill, Timsbury, at about 8.40am.

Fifty-five-year-old licensed trade stock taker Mr Stratton, said: "I was in bed and heard a tremendous bang. I thought my wife had fallen down the stairs."

Meanwhile, Mrs Stratton said she was downstairs in the kitchen and her first thought was that her husband had dropped something in the bath.

She added: "I came out of the door, looked down the side and saw a grey car sat there. By that time my neighbours were round. I came back in and rang the emergency services, sat down and cried."

Brickwork in the porch was demolished and the crash also caused damage to the kitchen wall and to the wall of a utility room. The couple's freezer was also among items broken.

Mrs Stratton said she understood that the 21-year-old girl who had been driving the car had been taken to hospital but added: "I'm very pleased that the young girl is not seriously hurt."