A young couple have been left having to appeal for support after a car smashed through the front of their house. It has caused thousands of pounds' worth of damage and they say they can't get it repaired under insurance.
It has left them not being able to afford to fix the substantial damage. Saskia Wilkins, 23, and her partner Jamie weren't home at the time, as they were spending some of the Christmas break with family when the crash happened on December 27.
Receiving a call from their neighbours, they raced over to their home to find a car buried in the front window. Saskia said they'd since been quoted £15,000 for repairs to what is their first home in Leeds.
Nursery worker Saskia told LeedsLive: "I was really stressed and it was really shocking and unexpected. I wasn't there luckily when it crashed into the living room because we were spending our Christmas with family.
"I was shocked when we got the call from our neighbours. We rushed over there and there was all the fire service, all the neighbours outside, everything was going on. I just burst into tears the minute I got there."
Officers from West Yorkshire Police were also at the scene after the crash just after 9am. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
"It knocked out the entire bay window and all the bricks underneath it," Saskia said. "It's damaged all the flooring in my living room too.
"The bay above it has also all come away because of the structural damage. It's all boarded up at the moment but it's very draughty - we stayed in hotels for the first few weeks after, which was very expensive. It doesn't feel very safe here."
Saskia and Jamie, who works in admin, have been unable to get the damage covered by insurance. It's left them having to set up a GoFundMe page to help them pay for the damage.
"I can't afford that," Saskia said. "It's my first home and I had to save a lot to get it in the first place. I'm just really struggling with how I'm going to afford this. It's put me in a really rubbish situation."
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said at the time of the crash: "Police were called to Roundhay Grove at 9.25am on Tuesday [December 27] to a report a car had crashed into the front of an unoccupied house. Following enquiries, a 31-year-old man in the car was arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of drugs and drugs offences. A second man was arrested and later charged with possession of a controlled drug."
