Police in Melksham are searching for two men who crashed a car into a front garden yesterday, narrowly missing a bystander and destroying a cherished classic car.

A black MG Rover careered off Barnwell Road and into the garden at number 15 at around 3pm, straight into the vintage red Ford Capri.

Owner Heather Waldron was in the house at the time. She said: “I was inside and I heard this horrendous crash. I thought, oh my God, there has been an accident outside.

"I went to the window expecting to see something down the road and saw this car in the front garden. I was white as a sheet when I went out there.”

The Capri, which Mrs Waldron and her husband Ken have owned for nearly 20 years, has been written off, and their front fence and hedge destroyed.

She said: “The car meant the world to us, but it’s so old I don’t know what we will get insurance-wise.

“It was my pride and joy, I loved that car, but If it wasn’t there it would have gone straight into the house.

“My neighbour was just outside next door. How they didn’t hit her I don’t know.

“She said they jumped out of the car, pulled their hoods up and were gone.”

The Rover has been seized by police, with forensic teams carrying out an investigation to determine its owner. A search of the area was conducted, but the two men involved in the crash have not been located.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Melksham Neighbourhood Policing Team on 101, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.