Girl, 11, comes within inch of death as 'drink driver' slams BMW into her bedroom

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The powerful 5 Series saloon smashed through a corridor on the other side of the wall and into an 11-year- old girl's bedroom, turning layers of bricks, breeze blocks and plasterboard into rubble.

The car also rammed a wardrobe on to Anna-Daisy Stephens' bed - but this shielded her from debris and may saved the youngster's life.

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Impact: The house is buried in the house in Ridgmont, Berkshire

In fact, apart from a few cuts and bruises, Anna-Daisy escaped unharmed from the incident in the village of Ridgmont, Bedfordshire, caused by a suspected drink-driver.

Aftermath: The BMW has shoved a wardrobe over Anna-Daisy's bed

Anna-Daisy's father Lloyd Stephens, 37, was watching television with his wife Sandra, 37, when the car hit the family home at 1.30am yesterday morning.

"We heard a big bang," he said. "I looked out the window because I thought there had been an accident on the road but saw the car in the side of our house."

Mr Stephens, a director of the off-licence group Thresher, added: "There were two people in the car who got out and ran away.

"I ran down the corridor but couldn't get through to Anna-Daisy because of the wreckage, so I went outside and managed to get to her through the bedroom window.

"Anna-Daisy had been asleep in bed when the car was driven through the wall.

It hit the wardrobe which fell on to the bed, but protected her from all the rubble. That wardrobe probably saved her life.

Shock: Lloyd Stephens

"She was shaken-up, and has a few cuts and bruises. I managed to pull her out, then I got the other two children out of their bedroom next door."

Police later arrested a woman running towards a local pub, and a man, believed to own the car, was found by a police search helicopter in a field nearby.

Later yesterday the BMW was pulled from the side of the barn, leaving a gaping hole.

Mr and Mrs Stephens, Anna-Daisy, Tom, five, and Emmie-Rosie, two, are staying with friends while their £400,000 house is made safe.

Sergeant Philip Eaton, of Bedfordshire Police, said: "A car hit a barn on Sunday morning at 1.37am. Two people were arrested and are being held in police custody."