A family-owned Northamptonshire funeral director has been forced to temporarily close after their Oundle premises was structurally damaged by a car crashing into the historic building.

Residents were stunned to see the black BMW embedded in the wall of Averil Phillips and Family’s offices near the entrance to the town’s Co-op supermarket.

Emergency services were called just before 12.30am on Sunday, April 26 when a BMW crashed into the side of a building in St Osyth’s Lane.

The company that has offices in Kettering and Corby has ordered a survey of the building to assess the damage that was caused by the car shunting into the wall and knocking into a fireplace – an ‘unscheduled visit’.

Averil Phillips /Google/ the car crashed into the building in St Osyth's Lane, Oundle Photo by Hamraz Dhadra

placeholder image — Averil Phillips /Google/ the car crashed into the building in St Osyth's Lane, Oundle Photo by Hamraz Dhadra

A social media post from the company said: “We’ve had quite the weekend at our Oundle office.

"We are glad the driver was attended to, and we can assure the community that there was no breakout, no ram raid, and parking restrictions remain firmly in place.

“Due to the structural damage caused, we will be temporarily closing the Oundle office while a full survey is carried out. We will re-open as soon as it’s safe to do so.

“In the meantime, our Corby and Kettering offices remain fully open, and our teams are on hand to support families across the Oundle area, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as always.”

A spokesman for Northants Police: “This happened just before 12.30am on Sunday, April 26 when a grey BMW 1 Series crashed into the side of a building in St Osyth’s Lane, Oundle.

"Thankfully no-one was seriously injured.”