A businessman had to be pulled to safety through his shop window after a car embedded itself in the front of the building.

Mohammed Afzal was enjoying a tea break when the black BMW smashed into the Imran Halal Meat Shop in Toller Lane, Bradford, yesterday afternoon.

The car demolished the front door and eventually came to a standstill less than 10 feet from where he was sitting.

Both the driver and passenger in the car escaped injury, but there were fears the rest of the brickwork could collapse - trapping Mr Afzal inside.

Safety experts from Bradford Council were called in to secure the building and firefighters from Fairweather Green managed to pull the terrified shop owner through a side window.

Mr Afzal, 37, who has run the shop for ten years, said: "I'm still in a state of shock. I'm so lucky to be alive. It's a good job there were no customers in at the time.

"I was having a cup of tea and the next thing I knew the shop was full of rubble. I couldn't see a thing because there was dust everywhere. I thought the whole shop was going to cave in."

His wife Naseem said: "I only left the shop a few minutes before the accident. I can't believe no one was killed."

PC Hadyn Lyness, of Toller Lane traffic police, agreed that it had been a lucky escape all round. He said: "Both the driver and passenger in the car could have been killed, as could Mr Afzal.

"It's only a small shop, so we were fortunate there were no customers on the premises. And the car mounted the pavement. Everyone has had a very lucky escape."

A spokesman for Bradford Council's building control department said his main concern was to secure the building.

He said: "The impact of the crash dislodged a huge section of brickwork from one of the corners. The corners are the strongest part of a building. Once you remove them there's a danger the rest can collapse."

Anyone with information about the incident, which happened at 3.25pm, is asked to contact Toller Lane traffic police on Bradford 376247.

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