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Safety fears after car crashes into garden in Seven Mile Lane, Mereworth

A grandmother has said it was a "complete fluke" that none of her young grandchildren were killed when a car crashed through her fence and landed in the back garden.

Sarah-Jane Berwick’s memorial bench to her father and her grandson’s tent were wrecked when a Ford Focus estate swerved off Seven Mile Lane, Mereworth, and came to rest on her lawn.

The 52-year-old has pleaded with Kent County Council (KCC) in the past to install a barrier following speeding concerns in the road and has admitted she felt "physically sick" after the crash.

The car crashed through a garden fence
The car crashed through a garden fence

She said: “I was thinking of what could have happened as we usually have our grandchildren playing in the garden at the weekend.

“They had been out for a meal and it was just a pure fluke they weren’t in the garden playing.

“My daughter bought my grandson a pop-up tent and he was playing in it last weekend.

“Now that is completely shredded underneath the car.”

A memorial bench to Mrs Berwick’s father, who died 22 years ago from lung cancer, also formed part of the wreckage at her Beech Road home.

It happened on Sunday, at around 2.30pm.

Sarah-Jane Berwick, grandson Riley Atkinson and daughter Lucy Ross with the wreckage of the car
Sarah-Jane Berwick, grandson Riley Atkinson and daughter Lucy Ross with the wreckage of the car

A 32-year-old man and a male passenger were treated at the scene by paramedics, but Mrs Berwick, who lives with her husband Michael, has been left feeling unsafe following the crash.

She said: “I was out having a meal and I got a phone call from my next door neighbour.

“I couldn’t go out in the garden to look at it until teatime because all I could think about was how fortunate it was somebody wasn’t killed.

“I have lived here for 15 years and we have been on at KCC saying that we need a barrier.

“It isn’t unusual for someone to do more than 70mph on Seven Mile Lane.

“When I first moved in there was a little hedge with holes in it and I found out that was because cars were going through it.

“If I don’t get a barrier outside my house then I will have to move. It’s really frightened me and I don’t feel safe here.”

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