A PENSIONER ploughed a car through a wall before crashing into a conservatory in Romsey last week, it has been revealed.

Emergency services rushed to reports of an 87-year-old man who crashed a brown Hyundai into Nightingale House, Great Well Drive, according to South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS).

Firefighters from Romsey fire station were alerted to the crash at the retirement property at 12.14pm on Thursday, April 8.

The driver was assessed by paramedics and no one was injured or trapped.

Operations manager for Grange Property Management, Richard Smith, confirmed the car crashed into Nightingale House, a retirement property run by the company.

He said: "It does not happen every day that we get vehicles driving through our developments, so the emergency services were on site pretty quickly.

"Fortunately, nobody was in the conservatory at the time and our residents are safe and sound, so the only damage that has been done is to the property itself."

Mr Smith said the car has now been removed and a builder was called to the site that day to ensure the building was safe.

He added a clear-up effort kicked off on April 8 in a bid to get part of Nightingale House back to normal.

Romsey leaders have reacted to the collision, with one councillor vowing to help protect residents against similar incidents.

Town and borough councillor Nik Daas was relieved no one was injured and pledged to research ways to protect residents' properties.

Hampshire Chronicle:

He said: "I am very pleased to hear that nobody was injured, but it is very sad to hear that the property has been damaged and I hope they will be able to fix and restore it to how it was before, or even better.

"In these sort of situations, it has to be looked into in detail to see what was the root cause and also to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Mr Daas added: "I will look into my ward to see if there are ways to protect properties, such as installing barriers, to ensure this doesn't happen again in the future."

Town and borough councillor Dorothy Baverstock expressed her concern following the crash.

Hampshire Chronicle:

She said: "I am very concerned about such an accident.

"I am very glad no one was injured and I am really glad no one was in the conservatory when the driver went through it."

Ms Baverstock suggested more drivers should be encouraged to go on Hampshire County Council's scheme for those aged 60 and over in a bid to improve their skills.

Police also rushed to Nightingale House after the force was alerted to the collision just after midday. 

A spokesperson from Hampshire police said: "We were called just after 12pm on Thursday (April 8) to a report of a single-vehicle collision on Great Well Drive, Romsey.

"Officers attended, no injuries were reported."

As reported, Urban Search and Rescue advisers were called to assess the structure of the building.

The scene was made safe and firefighters stood down at 1.06pm.