A busy market town is breathing a sigh of relief that no-one was injured after a car careered across a town-centre pavement, ploughing through the window and into the middle of a popular Chinese take-away business.
The impact completely demolished the front of the Eastern Sea Chinese Take-Away, on Norwich Road, Aylsham.
After smashing through the plate glass shop front, shattering its four-inch thick tiled and concrete base and wooden supports, the Smart car hurtled forward, bashing into a long bench used by customers waiting for orders.
But fortunately the take-away was closed when the accident happened, shortly before 2pm on Saturday, and no-one was on the stretch of pavement outside either.
It is understood the elderly male driver of the Smart car also escaped injury.
Parking bays form a line in front of the shopping parade which includes the take-away and the Smart car is believed to have been either entering or leaving one of the slots when the accident happened.
Visibly-shocked members of take-away staff gathered at the scene after the accident.
Several could not speak English but one woman was able to explain that she had been shopping in the nearby Tesco supermarket and had returned to find a scene of devastation.
'We do not know what to do,' she said. 'We are telling customers a car has crashed and we cannot open. We need to fix it but it is the weekend and places are shut.'
Eastern Sea is only open in the evenings. Mathew Martin, chairman of Aylsham Town Council, said the take-away was well used.
'There always seem to be people going in and out of there. It's very lucky that no-one was hurt - that's the most important thing. It can be really, really busy around there with the greengrocer's and Budgens on that stretch too,' he added.
'There was a big function at the church and the weather wasn't good so maybe it was quieter than usual.
'Buildings can be mended, but people can't. I feel very sorry for the people whose business it is and I hope they can get up and running again quickly.'
Police were first called to the scene and they then alerted the fire brigade because of fears that the building might be structurally unsafe.
Firefighter Johnny Rayner, Aylsham watch manager, said they had been joined by their Dereham-based Urban Search and Rescue colleagues who assessed the damage and found that nothing had been left structurally insecure.
A gas engineer had also been called but had ruled out any leaks, said Mr Rayner.
'The main point is that no-one was hurt,' he added.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here