A homeowner was lucky to escape with her life after a car crashed into her lounge “catapulting” her off a sofa and across the room.

Mother of three, Shazia Farooq, had only been sat down next to the window at the front of the house in Chippendale Close, Terriers, High Wycombe, for a few seconds when she heard a loud noise and a crash as she was thrown from her seat at about 11am on Wednesday.

The beautician, who has lived in the house for eight years, was alone at the time and has now described the moment the car hit the sofa with a “massive thud”.

See pictures of the car lodged in the wall of Mrs Farooq's home.

She was quickly rushed to hospital while firefighters secured the building and helped release the female driver of the Vauxhall Corsa, which had careered down a hill outside the property and smashed through the front wall.

Mrs Farooq said: “All of a sudden [there was] a massive thud and I have been catapulted off the sofa. It took a few seconds to process and I just saw this car in my front room.

“I just keep replaying it in my mind and I keep thinking what if, what if.

“I never want an eventful day like that again, it’s just a horrible situation, you think you’re safest in your home and you don’t think something like that will ever happen.

“I was doing the household chores when I had a phone call from my friend, I sat down for two seconds on the sofa, and I was just on the phone to her talking when it happened.”

She was taken to hospital with a stiff neck and back, but it is hoped there are no long lasting injuries, while the driver is only believed to have suffered minor injuries.

Mrs Farooq said that, despite the loss of a number of personal items, they were lucky younger members of the family were not on the sofa.

She said: “I was just thankful the kids were at school because usually that is where we all sit. The glass had shattered so if I was sitting there [in the corner of the sofa] I would have been hit.

“I don’t think I will be sitting there or letting the kids sit there for a while, unless we get an iron-clad gate out the front.

“I’m laughing about it now but I was in shock, I was shaking, now I can laugh about it, what else am I supposed to do? I can’t keep crying about it, but earlier I just melted.”

Mrs Farooq also praised the help of family and friends and “wonderful” neighbours who did what they could to help.

One nearby resident was sleeping when the car crashed into the house and said her room shook like a “mini-earthquake”.

Misbah Gulzar, 18, said: “I thought it was nothing, but I couldn’t get back to sleep as there were lots of people outside.

“I opened my window and there were policeman everywhere, big fire trucks, and then I went downstairs and I saw the car in her living room – I couldn’t believe it.”

Thames Valley Police confirmed no-one has been reported or arrested following the crash and the family home has now been secured, while they wait for repair work to begin.