Sorry, that's a major fail: Suspected learner driver ploughs into wall of tyre firm
Thousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused to a tyre business after a car ploughed into its shutters.
Metal has been left mangled outside Premier Tyres, based at Greyfriars Business Park in Stafford, while substantial structural damage was inflicted inside the industrial unit.
CCTV which has been passed to police captured the moment a dark Vauxhall Signum careered into the building at 6.45pm last Saturday.
Before the crash, cameras had caught the vehicle being driven around the business estate for around 45 minutes.
Then the footage shows that immediately after the smash a woman gets out of the driver's seat and swaps seats with a man prompting suspicions that she was being given an unlicensed driving lesson which went horribly wrong.
Rob Walker, from Premier Tyres, said: "I noticed the damage on Sunday and at first thought someone had tried to break-in.
"But when I looked at the cameras, it looks more like a simple accident by someone learning to drive.
"They came around the car park, the brake lights came on but the car didn't turn and went straight into the building."
He said the cost of repairing the damage would run into the thousands of pounds and while it was being covered by the insurance it would result in higher premiums.
Mr Walker added: "The repairs will be many thousands it has caused a lot of structural damage. It could take months to get fixed.
"If it had have been a few feet the other way it could have come through the whole office wall.
"We are not interested in prosecuting anybody we just want someone to say 'yes I did it, it was an accident' so we can get it sorted out."
Staffordshire Police spokeswoman Susi Turner said: "We received a report of a single-vehicle collision at Premier Tyres on the Greyfriars Business Park, Stafford, shortly before 11am on January 31.
"The incident involved a car being in collision with a door to the premises. It was captured on CCTV and is reported as occurring at 6.45pm the previous evening.
"The door and surrounding frame were damaged in the collision. It is believed the front of the car also sustained damage."
Anyone with information on the collision should call police on 101.
