The cost of rebuilding an Ashton shop totally demolished after a car smashed into it will be at least £100,000, it has been revealed.

Shop owners Alan and Wyn Fish, who live opposite the property on Canterbury Street, have been left counting the cost of the catastrophe, coming just days after the festive holidays. 

Miraculously nobody was injured in the incident, the property converted into three flats above the shop, Alan having only closed the door on the shop five minutes earlier and the car driver walking away with only scratches.

Alan, 73, said: “I was in the shop doing some work and it was tea time, so I left and walked across the road to where I live. I got to the front door and there was this almighty crash. I turned round and the front of my shop had gone.

“The car was in it, the left indicator was still going and the lights were on and immediately loads of people were involved and came across to help. Somebody used a brick so the driver could get out although some were shouting don’t go in because the property was unsafe.”

The car embedded in the front of the shop. Image: Nigel Wood. 

Alan explained that the noise and vibrations of the crash echoed down the adjacent Cowhill Lane, with everyone coming out of their terraced homes to investigate what had happened.

Luckily nobody was in any of the flats above the shop at the time, explained Alan.

Costs from insurers to rebuild the corner shop in its near original form are around £100,000, the building dating from the late 1800s.

The shop itself has been completely cleared now to make it safe, only an empty shell remaining, but Alan has no idea how long rebuilding works might take.

For the couple it is a double heartbreak, a similar incident happening only three months ago in September last year.

Alan and Wyn 

On that occasion a car collided with another vehicle before spinning into the shop, although the damage to the property was far less extensive on that occasion.

Damage then was estimated at £30,000, with works yet to start on those repairs and the shop shuttered up.

The couple first bought the property back in the late 1970s, converting the top slowly to three flats, living in one of them, and opening their electrical shop in the early 1980s. 

“It used to be like a community hub back then,” says Alan, well known for his lengthy service as a local scouting leader.

“People would come in for a brew and a chat and in those days, it was mostly appliance repairs.”

Wyn added: “We have many happy memories there and because we did everything to the property ourselves – it is devastating.”

The road was still closed the day after the incident. Image: Nigel Wood. 

Emergency services raced to the scene last Thursday (5 January) responding to the first reports of the catastrophe at around 6.45pm.

Police confirmed that they had arrested the woman driver at the scene on suspicion of drink driving, although she has since been released pending further investigations.

She had already escaped from the wreckage before police arrived and was checked over by paramedics, but did not require hospital treatment.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said two fire engines from Ashton and Stalybridge stations, and the technical rescue unit, were sent to the scene.

Roads around the area were closed before the property could be made safe, with traffic management now in place and the area around the shop cordoned off.

Dramatic CCTV pictures of the collision have received many thousands of views across social media, with the story also making the national press.

Tune into The Reporter Show on Tameside Radio on Thursday (12 January) at 7pm when you'll be able to hear more from Alan and Wyn.

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