A driver fled after crashing into a house, sending most of its garden wall flying into the next-door neighbour's living room.

Peter Smith, 56, was woken by a loud bang in the early hours of Saturday morning and ran downstairs to investigate.

He found glass scattered across his living room and a hefty chunk of his neighbour's wall on the carpet.

The car's driver left it wedged in the front of Mr Smith's home in Ham Road, Worthing.

Mr Smith said: "Initially I heard a loud smash and sat up in bed and said to my wife, 'What was that?'

"Then I thought maybe it had something to do with the cats.

"When my wife Helen and I saw the car in our front garden we went out with torches to see if anyone was hurt.

"But they had disappeared, leaving complete devastation and a huge pile of rubble blocking the front door.

"We were horrified at the time. Now we're just going through abject terror because we don't know if the house is going to fall down."

The dark blue Vauxhall Calibra swerved off Ham Road at 2.10am and into the front garden wall of Mike and Jeanette Hughes' home.

The vehicle smashed through the brick wall and into the Hughes' front door before continuing into the front of the Smiths' house, wedging itself in their door.

The force of the smash demolished the Hughes' door and pushed brickwork a few inches towards the Smiths' house, making it impossible for Mr Smith to close his front door.

Both couples, who have been neighbours for more than 20 years, were relieved to be unhurt but were angry the culprits got away.

Mr Smith, a former train conductor for South Central, said: "It's lucky we weren't having a late night watching TV or someone could have really been in trouble.

"We've heard a neighbour saw five people getting out of the car and running off.

"What I think about them is unprintable."

Mrs Smith, a dental technician in Lancing, said: "Can you imagine what would have happened if that car had burst into flames?"

Mrs Hughes said her first thought was for her nine-year-old son Peter.

She said: "It was very, very scary. I was woken by a huge bang and my immediate thought was for Peter who has epilepsy and sometimes sleepwalks.

"The wall they destroyed was double-thickness, two bricks wide, so you can imagine the force.

"Our front door has been boarded up so we have to troop all the way round the back of the houses to get in and out. It's a nightmare."

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: "Police are investigating the incident and appeal for any witnesses or information."

Anyone with information should call 0845 6070999.