A SHOCKED homeowner escaped serious injury by a matter of seconds after an out-of-control car ploughed through the front of his house near Verwood on Friday night.

Dad-of-two Mike Williams had just finished redecorating for the day when the Vauxhall Corsa was launched into his front room after swerving on the road outside.

Mike said he'd been standing exactly where the car crashed through only moments before the terrifying impact.

"I'd literally just taken my shoes off and walked into the hallway," he said. "I was very lucky, we wouldn't be having this conversation if I had been 45 seconds slower."

Mike and his family only moved into the house in Hare Lane, near Cranborne, six weeks ago.

If the front room wasn't being redecorated, his partner, Dianne, and their two young boys would probably have been sitting on the sofa watching television, he said.

"Everyone is fine but it was one hell of a shock," said Mike, who works as a sales manager for a marine engineering company.

"Even the driver of the car, who was pretty shaken up, wasn't too badly hurt. On the one hand it is unfortunate, but I also think we've been incredibly lucky.

"The only reason this room was empty is because I've been redecorating it - normally it would be our living room. The kids were in the conservatory and Dianne was in the kitchen when it happened."

Emergency services were called to the accident just after 7pm on Friday evening.

Mike said he believed that the Vauxhall, driven by a male, swerved to avoid colliding into another car that had turned onto the 60mph B3078 Cranborne Road from the Batterley Drove junction.

After leaving the road the Vauxhall was catapulted 20ft through the air into the front of the detached house.

Mike said: "The fire service and the police were both exceptional and our neighbours were fantastic. I will be looking to see if we can get the speed limit reduced to 40mph now though.

"Unfortunately the damage to the house is so severe we cannot use the upstairs rooms at the front either."

Dorset Fire & Rescue Service (DFRS) attended with two fire crews from Verwood and Cranborne.

Paramedics treated the driver for shock at the scene, before he was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Dorset Police said the drivers injuries were not serious or life-changing.