Family woken to see summer house smashed in two as driver crashes into Leighton Buzzard garden

A shocked Leighton Buzzard family were woken when a car smashed into their back garden, leaving it looking as if "a bomb had gone off" in it.

A white Audi S3 crashed through a fence on Billington Road at around 6.20am on Friday, July 2, waking the household in a panic.

The driver was injured but is said to have left the scene shortly afterwards, while it is claimed that officers from Bedfordshire Police did not arrive until over one hour later.

One family member, who wished to remain anonymous, told the LBO: "We opened our blind and looked out and there was a white Audi S3 poking in our garden. There was debris everywhere and it looked like a bomb had gone off!

"He took out a bit of next door's fence, our six foot feather board fence panel, leylandii bush, and smashed the summer house in two.

"There was a whole pile of car parts and lots of glass and aluminium. It was a real mess."

She added: "We have lived here for 22 years and never had any impact on our land until now. We have a lovely summer house, which we use as an outside room. I'm just grateful that it was 6.20 in the morning and that no-one was in there. It could have been a lot worse."

There were three witnesses to the accident, while one member of the family also went outside to help.

The injured driver is reported to have had blood on his face, but it is said that he "staggered off" before the ambulance arrived.

It is alleged that Bedfordshire Police did not arrive on the scene until 7.45am, followed by another officer from Hertfordshire ten minutes later.

The family member continued: "The police wouldn't come out on my first phone call and then I phoned again and so did one of the witnesses.

"I wouldn't call the police for just anything.

"I do feel for them, but I think they are losing respect."

The family member informed the LBO that once the Hertfordshire officer had arrived, the Beds Police squad then left the scene.

She claimed: "The officer from Stevenage was amazing, but it's just a shame that we don't have support - Bedfordshire Police had to phone Herts Police and their officer had to drive 50 miles to get here!"

The family would also like to appeal for residents to drive carefully down Billington Road for their own safety and that of pedestrians - especially schoolchildren travelling to Cedars and Greenleas.

A Bedfordshire Police spokeswoman, said: "We were called to a report of a road traffic collision on Friday (2 July) just before 6.30am in Billington Road, Leighton Buzzard.

"A car had left the road and ended up the garden of a nearby property, colliding with a summer house. The driver had left the scene before officers arrived.

"We understand that this was a concerning incident for the residents involved, however it’s important we prioritise our resources based on what risk there is to life, whether the crime is still in progress, and the type of offence it is.

"In this instance, we had no officers immediately available to attend as they were allocated to incidents with a higher threat, harm, and risk assessment.

"Each call we receive is assessed on THRIVE – Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigative opportunity, Vulnerability and Engagement, and resources are allocated accordingly.

"If anyone has information about this incident, we would urge them to report to us online at www.bedfordshire.police.uk/report quoting reference 40/34127/21."