Trader calls for more metal bollards after car hits Card Factory shop on West Midlands retail park

Traders who heard a car smash into a card shop on a busy retail park told the Express & Star of their relief nobody was badly hurt.

The Card Factory shop on the Victoria Shopping Park in Hednesford was left with a smashed front window after a car drove into it at around 11.15am on Tuesday (September 1) and remained closed for most of the day while a clean-up operation took place.

There was a large amount of broken glass on the ground, with a temporary barrier set up outside and the void left in the window space covered up with a mixture of tape and Card Factory signs as a temporary cover.

Laid on the ground was a plastic bollard which had been dislodged by the car, and a sign was placed on the shop’s door saying: “Closed. Open later on. Sorry.”

A trader on the park who did not want to be named said she had seen metal bollards put up outside her business and she wanted to see them installed all the way down.

She said: “It’s scary to hear about this crash because a lot of cars park around here, but there are the metal bars that are outside here and I think they need to be installed all the way down as that will stop it happening in the future.

“With those types of bollards, you’d really have to be going some to drive through those and crash into my business.

“It’s never happened around here and I’m sure it was just an accident what happened this morning.”

The manager of a burger shop next to the Card Factory said he went to investigate after hearing a “bit of a bang”.

Burger Boi manager Kharam Sandhar said: “I was just in the shop and heard a bit of a bang going on outside, which I thought was around the back and might have been my bins.

“However, as I went to the front, I saw there was a car there, half on the pavement and half in the shop, with a woman behind the wheel who I think had crashed by accident, but who was unharmed in the crash as people checked on her and helped her out of the car.

“It’s more shocking than anything else what has happened as it’s the first time I’ve seen something like this happen here and it could easily have been my shop.

“I’m just thankful that everyone seems to be okay, from the woman in the car to the people in the shop, and that’s the main thing to me.”

Another trader, who asked not to be named, said they had heard a noise, but not actually known about the crash until someone told them.

They said: “We were in the shop and we heard a bang, but we were very busy and just thought it was something normal.

“It wasn’t until later that a customer walked in and told us that a car had actually driven into the shop and it was really shocking to hear about.

“I know there’s been a few crashes around Cannock, but it’s the first time I’ve see that happen around here.”

Staffordshire Police has been approached for further information.