Dogs 'scarper' as car ploughs into grooming salon

News imageBBC Katy Colquhoun in front of her shop, which has the windows smashed and security fencing around it. She has red hair tied back and a fringe. She wears glasses with a blue frame and sports a grey t-shirt. She is looking at the camera with a serious expression. The grooming parlour appears to occupy the bottom right (as you look at it) section of a huge, relatively modern two-storey detached house, with a white UPVC front door to the left, but it is in fact part of a small row of shops, unseen behind it. It has a large parking area or drive in front.BBC
Katy Colquhoun was grooming a cockapoo when a car crashed through the front of her shop

Pets enjoying a pampering session "scarpered" for safety when a car ploughed through the front window of a dog grooming parlour, destroying part of the building.

Katy Colquhoun said she was "halfway through a cockapoo" when the vehicle smashed into her Lady and the Tramp Groomers in Cleadon, South Tyneside, coming to a stop "exactly where I was" just seconds earlier.

She said: "I'm devastated that this has happened, but also very grateful that we're all okay and that we've all managed to get out safely, dogs and humans."

Northumbria Police said the driver of the car remained at the scene and "has been assisting" officers.

Colquhoun, from Sunderland, said she had just moved away to make an appointment for a client when she heard a bang and saw the car's bonnet inside her salon.

"I think I could have died if I hadn't moved away from the table when I did," she said.

"I think the dogs could have been seriously injured."

News imageThe front of the Lady and the Tramp Groomers in Cleadon, which has been smashed. The windows are hanging off and there is debris at the front. The area is surrounded by security fencing and there are signs warning of the danger.
No-one was injured in the crash, which happened while the salon was open

She said the tables inside the room "just moved" and the dogs "scarpered".

"I was halfway through a cockapoo. I'm still in a state of shock. I'm absolutely mortified."

Colquhoun said her neighbours and clients had all been supportive, with a nearby business helping to move the dogs and give them water.

She said: "We're all going to rally around together and we'll get through it, we always do."

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.