Pub staff in miracle escape as car hits wall

THE landlord of a pub in Henley said it was “miraculous” that his staff escaped without serious injuries after a car crashed into the kitchen wall in the middle of dinner service.

At around 6.45pm on Sunday, a car left Remenham Lane and ploughed into the Little Angel pub, tearing a hole in the side of the Grade II listed building.

Five staff members were inside at the time and one suffered minor injuries.

By the time the kitchen staff went outside to see what had happened, the car had driven off, leaving only plastic car parts in the road.

Thames Valley Police have launched an investigation into the crash and is appealing for anyone with information. From what was left behind the car is believed to be a black Land Rover.

Chef de partie Martin Fish was washing up in the kitchen when the accident happened. The force of the car pushed him backwards and he suffered bruises to his back.

Head chef Silviu Man said he didn’t realise what was happening at first. “In the beginning, we thought it was like a big explosion,” he said. “We just heard a big bump.

“I looked over and just saw Martin being squished by all the equipment because the wall fell down on him.

“He was gathering all the plates with his head. Then we just realised that somebody from outside had hit it the wall.”

Mr Fish recalled his ears ringing after the crash. He was standing just to the left of the worst-affected part of the kitchen, which saw the walk-in fridge turn from a “90 degree angle in the kitchen to a 45 degree angle”.

He recalled: “Three minutes later, we went outside and saw all the walls were broken. No car or nothing. I was [feeling] normal after half an hour. I was looking around saying, “Come on, people, cleaning!”

The pub managed to re-open in time for dinner service on the following day. A temporary stud wall was built further into the building to allow the kitchen to keep running while the hole was patched up.

Workmen were on the site until 1.30am on Monday morning, making sure the roof was structurally sound.

Mr Docherty, who took over the Brakspear pub in April from former tenant Matt Dockray, told of his relief that none of his staff were badly injured.

He said: “I’m not religious but it’s almost miraculous that no one was injured severely or even worse. Obviously, they are all quite shaken up and there are a couple of bruises here and there, but there’s no serious injury.”

He said this was especially lucky as the kitchen at the pub is relatively narrow,

He said: “All the equipment on one side concertinaed across to the other side of the kitchen.

“We are massively fortunate that no one was standing in between those two pieces of equipment because they would have been squished. Martin was standing to the left.”

Mr Docherty, who lives in Emmer Green, said he had just begun driving home when he heard the news and immediately did a U-turn. “I was shocked, obviously,” he said. “Your first thought is, ‘is everyone all right’.

“Walls can be rebuilt but it’s a bit harder to put limbs back on to people but, thankfully, everyone was fine.”

Mr Docherty said he didn’t know how much the damage would cost yet but said he was sure it “won’t be insignificant.”

He added: “I think it’s shocking behaviour not to stop to see if anyone is hurt but I’m guessing their self-preservation kicked in.”

A spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police said it was investigating.