VILLAGERS today spoke of their shock after a bus ploughed into a line of parked cars, leaving at least three written off and one just an inch from a house.

VILLAGERS today spoke of their shock after a bus ploughed into a line of parked cars, leaving at least three written off and one just an inch from a house.

Residents came racing out of their houses at Trimley St Martin after hearing a huge bang to find chaos outside with crumpled cars clattered into each other.

One vehicle was left in the middle of the road, another almost touching the lounge wall of a home, and others smashed into each other like a concertina. The badly-damaged First Eastern Counties bus was further down the road.

It was the second incident in two weeks involving one of the company's vehicles after one got stuck under a bridge at Bramford.

As vehicle owners started counting the cost, police were investigating the crash, which happened in High Road, Trimley St Martin, about 11.30pm last night.

Although there is no suggestion that the bus driver was speeding, residents have said that speed has been a problem on the road and they want either cameras to reduce the problem or an off-road parking area to protect their cars.

Mark Goodman, whose Vauxhall Astra was written off in the accident, said: “I was watching TV when I heard this big crash and sound of grinding metal outside.

“I came outside to look and all the cars had been moved all over the place and it was a real mess.

“The bus had stopped down the road - its side windscreen had popped out and the doors and steps were all smashed and the driver was just walking round in a daze.”

Steve Long, whose Peugeot 306 was written off, said: “I had only just spent £350 on an air conditioning unit. Now I have had to take a day off work to deal with this, my wife Lesley is pregnant and has a hospital appointment today and we have no car.

“One of the cars came to rest just an inch from our front wall. If it had hit the house it could have been an incredible mess - it just doesn't bear thinking about.”

Carl Crane, of High Road, said: “This is definitely not a slow road - at times the cars come past here very fast indeed and we have been asking for something to be done.”

Residents said a woman had been hit by a car previously, two cats and a dog had been killed, and several vehicles had been clipped and suffered minor damage.

A police spokeswoman said the accident was currently being investigated. As well as the Peugeot and Vauxhall, a Ford Escort, Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa were all damaged. No-one was injured and the road was cleared by 1.18am.

No-one was available to comment from First Eastern Counties today.