THE wife of the 77-year-old man who crashed his car into a Lower Wick shop this morning after he fell ill has said he was "devastated" by what happened.

Ian James, who lives in a bungalow in Westmount Close next to the shop, crashed his VW Polo into the side of the Co-op at 8.48am this morning.

His wife, Lesley James, 75, said the couple returned from a holiday in the Isle of Wight late last night, and Mr James had been out to collect their cat from a cattery.

Only yards from their home, Mrs James said her husband had a stroke, which meant he struggled to use the brake pedal.

The vehicle crashed through the wall, into a cigarette cabinet on the other side, next to the counter.

Three police cars, two ambulances, and a fire engine were dispatched to the scene and Mr James, a retired prison officer, was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital, where he is being kept in overnight. His condition was described as stable.

The wall collapsed and a shop assistant, a woman in her 30s, was injured. The Worcester News has been told she was trapped in the rubble and it took 25 minutes to release her. She was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital, to be treated for serious leg injuries.

Nearby flats above the shop were evacuated.

Mrs James, who has been married to Mr James for 18 years, told the Worcester News: "Ian had been having trouble with walking and his co-ordination. Doctors say it looks like a stroke.

"He was devastated - really worried for the person who was injured.

"He was trying to brake, it was a total accident.

"He was taken to hospital, we think he will be there for a few days."

A friend of the family who lives in the close but did not want to be named, said she heard a "loud bang" and glass smashing as whisky bottles crashed to the shop's floor.

Ali Vinson, a West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic, tweeted that the shop assistant escaped with a leg injury, but she was shaken by what happened.

She tweeted: "Believe driver had a CVA at the wheel. Wall collapsed causing injury to shop assistant.

"Thank God there were no pedestrians."

A section of Canada Way was closed for seven hours while the emergency services attended the incident and made the scene safe, reopening it at around 4pm.

Liz Webb, the Co-operative shop's area manager, said the shop was closed for the day after the incident, and they were not sure when it would reopen.

• A person who was in the flat above the Co-op at the time of the crash says she initially thought there had been an earthquake.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, said the car came through the wall immediately below the children's bedroom where her two daughters, aged eight and nine, were at the time.

"There was a massive crash, I jumped out of bed," she said.

"The whole flat shook - I thought it was an earthquake.

"I ran into check the children, they were fine playing on tablets.

"I only found out what happened when the police knocked on the door and said we had to leave."

Later on the woman was allowed to go back into the property to collect some belongings, and she went back into the children's bedroom.

"There were ginormous cracks, at least two centimetres wide," she said.

"It was scary.

"If the car had been going faster it would have gone right into the Co-op, and the whole thing could have collapsed."

The woman added they were now staying with friends and family, and were not sure when they would be allowed back into property.

• The incident is not currently being treated as suspicious by West Mercia Police.

Anyone in the area at the time, who witnessed the incident, is asked to call officers on 101, quoting 154s.