"I don't want to live here anymore" - elderly Brighouse couple devastated after car smashes into bungalow

Rona Robinson and her husband Bob had been playing with their three young grandchildren in the room just hours before the crash, which took place at 9.15pm.

The dramatic collision showered the front room with glass and brickwork, covering retired landlord and taxi driver Bob, who was watching television.

Rona, who still works part-time as a kitchen manager at a local school, said: "He hit a car further up the road and it directed him into us. He tried to make a run for it but a neighbour stopped him and they all called the police straight away.

Bob said: "I was just sat there. I heard the bang and was covered in glass straight away. Two bricks came through and didn't miss me by much. One brick ended up in the kitchen.

"It was a complete shock, you just never expect something like that to happen when you're sat in your own house."

The couple only moved into the Highmoor Lane bungalow eight weeks ago, after arthritis in Bob's knee meant they required more easily-accessible accommodation.

The house is just 100 yards from the popular Armytage Arms pub.

"We had three grandchildren crawling around on the carpet just before," Bob said, "luckily my wife had gone to bed a few minutes earlier or she'd have been right in the firing line. It's not worth thinking about what could have happened.

"We're shaken up as you can imagine. It'll take a while for us to get over it."

The couple have been clearing up the mess all day and have had to cancel plans to have the family round for Boxing Day.

"We'd just gutted it from top to bottom and got it how we wanted it," Rona said, "we'd had new carpets put in and now they're full of glass, a new telly was destroyed, that cost £600.

"I haven't been to bed. I couldn't sleep after that. Traumatic isn't the word. I just don't want to live here anymore."

Bob said: "Rona was hysterical.

"Now we've got to face the length of time to restore things to how they were. You never know what the insurance companies are and aren't going to do."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson confirmed that the driver had blown over the drunk driving limit before he was arrested.