Gift store owner heard ‘beep, screech and massive bang’ as crash leaves side of store ‘demolished’

A business owner has described how she has been left ‘shaken’ after a car crashed into her beloved gift shop.

Emergency services were called to Coatham Road in Redcar on Saturday after a shocking two-car collision saw one vehicle thrown into the window of Under A Spell gift shop. The incident, which happened just before noon, led to part of the road being cordoned off by police while they dealt with the aftermath.

Now, businesswoman Louise Stewart has opened up to Teesside Live about the horrifying moment the car crashed into her store, smashing a window and ‘demolishing’ the side of her shop. The 53-year-old says she has been ‘shaken’ by the incident and the future of her store remains up in the air.

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It had been business as usual at Under A Spell, which sells incense, resins and ‘quirky gifts’, on Saturday. However just before lunch time, as Louise was sat behind the counter checking her CCTV cameras following an incident earlier in the week she heard a ‘screech and a massive bang’.

“I was just behind the counter looking at the cameras and I just heard a beep outside, then a screech and a massive bang. As I turned around I just saw the car coming towards me and it just came straight through the window,” she explained

“I was just stood there with my hands in the air and my mouth wide open going what has just happened.”

Witnesses reported that two cars had collided outside the store, which sits on the corner of Coatham Road and Station Road. One of the vehicles was allegedly thrown into a spin, before smashing into a council planter then carrying on into the unit.

While Louise says she still feels “a bit shaken” she is pleased that no one was seriously hurt by the incident, as she often has children standing outside of the window to admire a popular carousel on display. However, the crash has caused serious damage to the side of her shop as the car smashed her display window, crushing its bonnet.

On the destruction caused by the crash, she said: “There’s too much damage [to open the store], the whole of that side of the shop is just in. The whole wall is smashed in. The wall is structurally safe but the whole of that shop side is just demolished basically and they’re going to have to rebuild that side.”

The business owner was forced to shut up shop for the rest of the day while the police carried out their enquiries, however she has said she is not going to be able to open up again until the damage is repaired. While she is pleased that no one has been hurt she has said her business is her only form of income and closing is ‘going to make things a bit difficult’ financially.

A fleet of emergency services arrived on the scene following the collision, with police officers, paramedics and firefighters all arriving shortly after the incident. The North East Ambulance Service confirmed that no one had been taken to hospital as a result of the crash and Cleveland Fire Brigade made the scene safe so police could lift the cordon they had in place.

A spokesperson for NEAS said: “We received a call at 11.37am to reports of a road traffic incident on Coatham Road in Redcar. We sent one emergency ambulance and cleared on scene. No patients required transport to hospital.”

A spokesperson for the fire and rescue service said: “Cleveland Fire Brigade are attending a road traffic collision involving two vehicles on Coatham Road, Redcar. Fire Brigade currently making scene safe.”

Teesside Live has contacted Cleveland Police for comment.

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