"It was horrible. It's lucky nobody died!"

Wednesday 13 June 2018

Staff at Le Braye cafe were left shocked after a driver accidentally drove repeatedly into the fencing, and the outside tables where people were eating, causing several thousands of pounds of damage.

The police said the driver was a 61-year-old lady in an automatic silver Mitsubishi, who got confused between the accelerator and the brake, on Sunday afternoon.

Jolyon Baker, the owner of Le Braye, said that the car reversed three times and moved forwards and backwards into the fencing.

He added: "It's extremely lucky for the many people that were there that no one was hurt. It could have been terrible! It was very extreme and very fast. It was horrible. It's lucky nobody died."

The café owner said he had never seen something like that. "We have had lots of crazy situations at Le Braye, but not like that."

Mr Baker was not only relieved that none of his customers, who were having their dinner nearby, was hurt in the incident, but also none of his staff. "When my manager went to help when it first happened, the lady reversed and nearly hit her," Mr Baker said. "The staff were quite shocked."

Pictured: The incident occurred on Sunday evening while customers were having dinner outside.

Mr Baker said that the incident has caused a lot of damage: tables and planters have been smashed, the road damaged and the fencing 18-inch posts destroyed.

"It's all fixable. Luckily I have a very good team of builders," said Mr Baker. "They have helped me put back some of the fencing. Over the next few weeks we will have to make it all repaired but already there are not many signs of what happened. 

"I am in discussion with the insurance company but it has likely caused several thousands of pounds."