THE owner of the car that made headlines in Stourbridge after a freak accident has spoken of the shock moment she discovered her beloved Megane had been turned into a mangled wreck.

Retired Stourbridge News journalist Sally Barton had parked her car on the Stourbridge Institute car park before heading off for coffee with husband Paul and friends last Wednesday (February 25).

Little did she know that in her absence - her much-loved Renault Megane would be making news on websites and social media after it was dramatically rammed through a wall and into the new Stourbridge Tesco entranceway, off Bell Street, by an out of control silver Jaguar driven by an elderly man.

The incident, which happened at around 12.45pm, was the talk of the town but Sally and husband Paul, both 74, from Norton, were oblivious to the commotion as they sat chatting at Costa in the Ryemarket with friends.

Mrs Barton, known as Sally Munro when she was features writer for the Stourbridge News in the 1990s, said she had a "horrible sinking feeling" as she arrived at the Institute car park and saw a recovery vehicle near the spot where her car had been parked; then she noticed "there was a great hole and the wall wasn't there".

She said: "I still can't believe it. I'm devastated. It was just an awful shock.

"It was an act of God that we weren't in the car.

"We had such a lucky, lucky escape. I'm really grateful.

"Had it been Paul and I in the car it's quite likely we would have had our necks broken.

"I'm so glad nobody was injured - and that the elderly man and his wife in the silver car are ok."

The Jaguar driver and his wife, long-standing Institute members - believed to be in their 80s, were checked over at the scene by paramedics following the incident which saw their vehicle smash through the car park barrier and bounce off a gold Nissan Note before shunting Mrs Barton's burgundy car through the wall.

Despite the drama - they were later said to be "fine" by Ron Peplow, chairman of Stourbridge Institute, who added: "The man's wife can't remember anything about it and he's talking about hiring a car."

Mrs Barton, a grandmother-of-seven and former sports writer for a national newspaper, said her car, which she affectionately called Meg, had been left a "complete write off" after the smash and she added: "It was an old car but we'll have to shell out thousands to get a new one.

"I just felt so sad seeing it all smashed up. I loved it. It had never been in any drama in its little life."

She said she was also stunned that the power of Facebook meant friends and relatives had seen pictures of her mangled Megane before she even knew of the accident.

She said: "My friend saw the car before I did - and my sister in South Africa contacted me because her daughter in Johannesburg had emailed to say there had been something happening in Stourbridge."