AN 80-year-old driver could not remember how he came to crash into the front of a house when a first aider tended to him.

At about 10.45am, a maroon Ford Fiesta hit the front of an end-of-terrace house in King William Street, Old Town, leaving 8ft cracks up the front of the building.

The driver, from the Swindon area, was taken to Great Western Hospital with minor injuries.

There was nobody in the property at the time of the collision, which police believe is not thought to have taken place above 30mph.

The road was closed from Prospect Place’s junction with Union Street while there was a danger of the wall collapsing.

Jun Longalong, deputy manager at Kingsmead Care Home, gave first aid to the driver. He and PC Adrian Ridley, of Wiltshire Police, gave a brief description of what they believe happened in the moments before the crash.

Jun said the car had swung around the corner from Prospect Place, narrowly avoided a parked red Ford Fiesta on the right hand side of the road before glancing the side of the care home building on the left of the road.

It was the car’s contact with the care home which drew Jun and his colleagues’ attention to the car.

Jun, 40, said: “I found him bleeding on his forehead and gave him first aid. It was brought to my attention and I called for an ambulance straight away. I took my first aid kit and used it to help him.

“He was fully conscious when I attended, but he was very confused.

“He couldn’t even remember his address or what happened when I asked him. He couldn’t even remember he had smashed into the wall.”

The owner of the property, named locally as Alec, was at the scene as emergency services surveyed the damage. Marc Conway, 80, a retired plasterer who lives two doors down from Alec, said: “I heard a thud and looked out of my window, but didn’t really pay attention to it at first.

“Alec has lived there for three or four years. He had been out on a bike ride when he came back to see the damage.

“He said ‘I’m glad I wasn’t in there. I’ve got a desk in front of the window and would’ve had a good view of it.’ “Naturally he’s a bit shocked. I just did my best and made him a cup of tea.”

PC Ridley said: “The man has been taken to the hospital for a check-up. It is a precautionary decision based upon his age.

“The building control people from Swindon Council are on their way to survey the damage and decide on the plan of action for how to deal with this wall.”