A FAMILY are asking ‘what if’ after a driver smashed through their garden wall.

Kate Ward and her children were asleep at home on Castle Lane West in Bournemouth when the Toyota Celica crashed.

It went through a set of thick shrubs and plunged down on to a service road outside their home.

Then it hit their hefty front wall, taking out an eight-feet-long chunk, ending up neatly parked outside.

A Dorset Police spokesman said a 21-year-old Poole woman had been arrested and charged with being over the drink-drive limit.

Kate, 41, a family outreach worker, said: “Since it happened, it dawns on you – what if?

“What if hadn’t been slowed down by the shrubs? Both my youngest children sleep in a front bedroom.

“You see people walking past where it crashed all the time.

“The damaged wall is just like having a constant reminder of what could have happened – it’s horrible.”

The crash happened at around 1.00am last Monday.

Youngest daughter Hannah, nine, and George, six, did not hear the incident.

But eldest daughter Jodie, 11, woke up the family after seeing the ambulance.

She said: “I saw the flickering blue lights in my bedroom.”

Dad Rick, 49, a BT engineer, spoke to the police and was told they were looking for a woman.

Kate described seeing a man outside who was walking around and holding his head in his hands.

The family are waiting to hear from back from builders about when the repairs can be done.

The woman is due to appear in Bournemouth Magistrates Court on August 7.