A FAMILY have been left homeless after a car smashed into their home and destroyed it on Christmas morning.

Ana Diaconu, 30, and Florin Maracinenu, 34, were lying in bed at around 9.50am when a black BMW ploughed into their spare room.

Terrified after smelling gas they and other family members grabbed their two kids and escaped but now have nowhere to go.

Amazon packer Ana said: "We felt the bed shake and after we heard the noise we definitely knew that there was a car or an explosion downstairs.

“There was a bed there, there was a wardrobe, there were toys.”

Ana added: "We knew straight away that it was a car because we could hear the engine.

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"We were in the bedroom above the room that has been destroyed. I still can't believe it. We are so lucky that no one was in the room, otherwise they would be dead."

The car hit the £350,000 detached house in Grays, Essex, so hard that two walls collapsed.

Firefighters at the scene on Argent Street used two support struts to stabilise the building after it suffered "significant damage".

No one was hurt in the smash but residents were evacuated after the BMW took out an electricity box, gas mains and damaged the family's VW Golf.

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An 18-year-old man, from Grays, was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and released on bail pending further inquiries, police said.

He had also been arrested on suspicion of driving without a licence and no insurance.

Ana said her kids, two and nine, were "not very good" following the smash and she fears she won't be able to return to the home.

She added: “We have a mortgage so it’s not going to be easy. We are still in Grays at a friends house but they have a family.

"We’re gonna stay tonight and tomorrow but we need to go somewhere.

“The insurance company has offered us a hotel but we have two kids. They need food and clothes and toys.”

Ana said her family "feel very lucky” that no-one was hurt and only lost a few Christmas presents amid the carnage, having celebrated the night before.

Florin said neighbours have rallied round to support his family.

Speaking of the driver, he added: “I didn’t think about him, I just thought about my family."

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