STAFF at a Canford Cliffs estate agents had a lucky escape after a car smashed into the front window of their office – showering the room with glass.

Estate agents at Berkeleys had been putting up property details in the window of the Haven Road branch just moments before a silver Mini smashed into the glass frontage at 10.35am on Thursday – firing shards of glass into the room. Fortunately the staff had returned to the desks and were unhurt. The driver and passenger in the Mini were shocked but not badly hurt.

“We had the shock of our lives,” said John Jennings, who was sitting close to the front door. “Clients and residents have been calling in all day to make sure we survived the event unharmed. The local community has been so supportive.”

It was the second such accident at the branch after another crash demolished the side window back in November 2011.

Jeremy Priestley, director of Berkeleys, which celebrated its 21st anniversary last year with a look back at 100 years of Canford Cliffs, added: “The Bournemouth Echo published our heritage pictures of the Canford Cliffs office as it stood robustly 100 years ago. We were rather hoping it would continue to stand in the 21st Century too!”

The frontage has now been boarded up, but the office is open as usual.