THE owners of a holiday home near Helensburgh which was badly damaged after a car ploughed into it have spoken of their relief that no one was injured in the shocking accident.
Crosskeys Cottage, at the Cross Keys roundabout on the A818, between Arden and Helensburgh, was struck by a vehicle in the early hours of Saturday, November 9.
Pictures and video footage emerged on social media on Saturday morning showing the aftermath of the collision involving a grey BMW X5 which was lodged inside the category C listed building.
The cottage was vacant at the time and no injuries were reported.
A 20-year-old man was later charged with four motoring offences.
READ MORE: Man charged after BMW ploughs into holiday home near Helensburgh
Clayton and Alison Lambert, who have owned the property since 2012, said it was pure luck that the situation was not more severe.
“I just laughed when I first saw the car inside the house,” Clayton told the Advertiser, “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, it was astonishing.
“We were grateful that no one was injured.
“We have people staying the same four or five days at bonfire night every year and the previous couple stayed an extra night this year, so another couple were due to arrive on Sunday.
“It was very lucky that no one was there at the time of the accident.
“The green door is actually a false door; you can’t get in that way.
"It leads right into the kitchen so if someone had been standing there making themselves a cup of tea, they would’ve been dead, no question.”
READ MORE: VIDEO: BMW pulled from wreckage of Helensburgh cottage after horror smash
Emergency crews attended the scene at around 3am and Clayton and Alison – who live in a detached house just behind the cottage, and were home at the time – were alerted to the crash by fire crews just after 4am.
The couple say enhanced safety measures are a necessity on the road and they are now turning their minds to the recovery effort.
Alison said: “It is a dangerous roundabout, people drive far too fast and there have been accidents there before, but nothing has ever came over the wall like that before.
“You understand cars bump on the roundabout but I would never have dreamt that something like that was possible.
“We can walk around inside the cottage now and it has been made safe and sealed up so that it is watertight. That is all we can do at the moment.
"We don’t know how long it might take to repair; it’s still far too early to say.
“The car came through the door into the kitchen area, it was just the bedroom that was untouched.
"That is the saving grace – that if somebody had been staying in the cottage and sleeping in the bedroom at the time then they wouldn’t have been hurt.”
READ MORE: Man, 20, on report after car crashes into cottage near Helensburgh
Clayton added: “This is the first time it has been as bad as that. A car hit the wall around seven years ago and burst into flames; I pulled a couple of kids out the back before the fire brigade arrived, but we’ve never seen anything like this.
“We will speak to the council about installing a crash barrier on the verge.
“Drivers just treat that stretch of road with contempt. Many times they just go flying along.
“Our focus now is on getting the cottage repaired, we can’t knock it down as it is a listed building, so the project will be to get it looking as good as it did, or better.”
READ MORE: Catch up with all the latest news from around Helensburgh and Lomond here
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