Trapped victim relives horror at barber shop

Miraculously he suffered no serious injuries and joked: "That's one of my nine lives gone."

Ian explained: "I was sitting waiting for my haircut with my friend Richard Hoyland as I do every month. Normally the owner Keith buys a newspaper and I sit there reading the sports pages having a chat about football or cricket but he did not have time to get one that morning, which probably saved my life.

"Instead I was looking out of the window when suddenly I saw this brown car careering towards the shop and I thought 'this isn't slowing down.'

"I managed to shout 'look out' in time for Keith and Richard to jump out of the way but from where I was sitting, about five feet away from the window, there was no way I could avoid it.

"I started running towards the back of the shop with my eyes closed and on the second step the car had crashed though the front window right into the shop and hit me in the back. It smashed me into a table and bashed my chest and stomach."

He finished up on one knee with his right leg under the car and the left stretched out behind him. He joked: "It was like some sort of Torvill and Dean finishing position, only covered in dust and rubble and table legs. I felt like I should be proposing to the paramedics.

"As soon as it happened I heard someone asking the driver to reverse out. But my right leg was caught right in the grille and I said, in slightly less polite language, 'don't even think about moving this car one centimetre'."

"It seemed like I was trapped there for hours and the pain was excruciating."

"The paramedics gave me lots of gas and air and reassurance while the firefighters used airbags to lift the car off me.

"When I got to the Conquest they gave me scans for internal bleeding and checked my legs out and I couldn't believe it when they said there was nothing seriously wrong with me."

He suffered bruising to the chest and stomach and back, which bore the brunt of the impact, and bruised legs, which were holding the weight of the car.

Ian, who works for Barclays Bank, added:"When I was under the car I certainly didn't think I'd be at home laughing and joking about it that night.

"Everyone said the fact I didn't break my ankle at least is a miracle. I know I've been very lucky.

"Someone must be looking down on me because if I hadn't seen the car coming I don't think I'd be here now."

Ian, who plays cricket for Sidley, fears he will miss most of the season with his back injury.

He added: "I've just paid my membership of Highwoods Golf Club too so that's a bit of a choker."

He's not sure when he will be given a clean bill of health to return to work because doctors have told him not to drive. Ian would like to give a special thanks to the firefighters and paramedics who attended the accident.

Police are still investigating the cause of the crash. The driver of the car, an automatic Renault 21, was a middle-aged local man.

r KEITH Green, the owner of Sharp Style barber shop, has asked the Observer to point out that he has no plans to move to France or anywhere overseas in the immediate future.

The salon made headlines last week. A member of staff told the observer Keith had plans to emigrate in the next few weeks but he insists that's not true.

He added: "When I saw the car coming towards me I wished I was in France but there's no truth to the rumour I am emigrating in the immediate future."

Below: Flashback to last week's Observer front page picture showing the car wedged inside the shop.