Penge residents were woken in the early hours when a car ploughed into a tree.

Neighbours were roused from their beds by a “loud bang” when a bronze coloured car crashed into a tree along Franklin Avenue.

The car, which left skid marks along the road, lost wheels in the smash which happened around 4.30am on Monday (August 3).

The driver, a man in his 20s, escaped with minor injuries.

MORE TOP STORIES 56-year-old Ian Muir, from near Croydon Road, came across the sight and said: “It’s gone into the tree; you can see skid marks on the road. The tree smashed the engine and the axle.

“It missed the driveway of the house, at the side of the pavement there’s a grassy bit with plants and trees and it went into there.

“It looks really bad; the engine was smashed out of it.”

Mr Muir, who works with computers, added he thought it was a Hyundai.

Police confirmed they were called to reports of a car which had crashed into a central reservation.

No one was arrested.

More to follow.