OWNERS of an Old Town gift shop are devastated after a car ploughed through a window last night.

Tracey and Chris Bryant, who own Expressions in Victoria Road, were returning to their home in Portishead from a trade fair in Harrogate when they received a call from the manageress to inform them a blue Mini had veered through the window of the shop, on the corner of Albert Street and Wood Street.

While the elderly woman driver was not badly injured, the damage caused was so severe the Bryants have closed the shop for the foreseeable future.

Tracey said: “The most important thing is the woman was okay, and that it happened when there were no staff or customers in the shop. It looked like she was quite an elderly woman. 

"We were at a trade fair in Harrogate when the manageress called me to tell me what had happened.

"Another member of staff was out for dinner in Old Town when she walked past and saw what had happened.”

The impact of the collision sent a candle by the window flying across the shop, and while firefighters were content no structural damage was caused, deep welts now split the ceiling in two, making it unsafe for trading until it has been refurbished.

“It’s devastating. We only had a refit last year, after about 20 years,” Tracey added. 

“We spent quite a lot of money and hard work refurbishing it and it’s just so disheartening we’ll have to do it again.

“We have no idea when we will be able to open again and we just hope we will continue to have the support of our customers."

“Retailers in Old Town are constantly competing with the shops in new Swindon and it’s difficult for retailers to get footfall as it is, and I’m just concerned it could mean we lose more customers in Old Town.”

Emergency services were called at around 8.30pm yesterday after reports of the collision.

Firefighters from Swindon fire station were passing the scene and stopped to help, and called for a crew from Stratton to attend as well when they thought the woman might need to be cut free from the car.

A Wiltshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “Initially the female driver was still in the car and it was thought she might have to be cut free to assist ambulance, hence the second crew, but after an assessment she was able to get out of the car and walk free without our involvement.

“We did make sure the electrics in the building were isolated, for safety, and removed the car once building control had done their inspection. We arrived at about 8.40pm and were away by 9.30pm.”

A police spokesman said: “We were called at 8.31pm following a report of a collision at Queen Victoria House. 

"A blue Mini had crashed into the shop on the corner of Albert Street and Wood Street. It is believed a Fiat was also damaged, as well as street signs and the shop. The female driver of the Mini was reported for careless driving. The shop was boarded up at 11pm.”

Expressions’ security guards, alerted by the intruder alarm, were at the scene shortly after the collision and oversaw the boarding-up of the building.