RESIDENTS have spoken of their shock after a campervan ran out of control and ploughed into at least SEVEN cars on two quiet streets in Minehead.

The cars were parked in Glenmore Road and Summerland Avenue when they were struck at about 2am on Tuesday, causing damage put at thousands of pounds.

Mum-of-two Kate Garbutt was woken by the sound of the campervan scraping up the sides of her and her husband’s cars in Glenmore Road.

She said: “I saw the van moving slowly past my car and at the time I thought it hadn’t hit it, but then it tried to reverse, and as it did it caught my car and lifted it so it smashed into my husband’s car.”

Kate, who only bought her blue Peugeot 206 two weeks ago, believes both her and her husband’s cars will be written off by their insurance company.

“Both are undrivable because of the damage,” said Kate.

“My 16-year-old daughter is gutted that I can’t take her anywhere during halfterm.”

Daniel Oldfield, a self-employed plumber who lives in Summerland Avenue, has already had to buy a new van to get to work as his old one was “beyond repair” after being hit by the campervan.

“The van has dents all up the side, the tyre was burst, the side door wouldn’t open, the bumper was smashed in half and the lights were hanging out, so it wasn’t safe for me to drive,” said Daniel.

“I’ve had to buy a new van today (Tuesday) so I can carry on working tomorrow.

“There were two of us that use the van, so with buying another van and insuring it I am out of pocket about £4,000 today.”

The campervan also damaged Ben Dean’s van in Glenmore Road.

He said: “My van got scraped all down the side and the mirror was smashed off.

“It seems like the campervan took a few mirrors before hitting my van after coming down Summerland Avenue.”

A police spokesman said: “A van, believed to be the same one, was found abandoned on Dunster Beach later on in the morning and enquiries are being made as to its owner.”

Anybody with information about the incident is urged to call Minehead police on 101.