A cafe described as "one of the most beloved places in St Helens", which provides a safe haven to people with autism and anxiety disorders, has been forced to shut its doors after a car came crashing through its front window.
Momo's Cafe on Westfield Street suffered major damage when it is believed a driver suffered a medical episode at the wheel of his car and drove into the building at around 4.50am this morning, May 7. Half of the exterior window was smashed, and a front door was caved in.
Speaking about the incident, Momo's owner Claire Rigby said: "I think it was a young lad. He's just come straight into the side of the building. There was a guy walking past, and if it wasn't for him I don't know what would have happened, but he managed to turn the ignition off."
READ MORE: The people escaping to Merseyside beaches but always thinking about home
"All the front's gone, the doorway. The police got St Helens Council's structural engineers out to make sure it was safe and secure and wasn't going to fall in, and then we got the contractors out to make it secure, and we won't be able to enter until Tuesday."
The driver, described as a young man, is understood to be recovering in Whiston Hospital.
Claire added: "The first thing I knew was when I got knocked out of bed at 6am this morning. I got a knock on the door, because the police know who are are; we're a community interest company so people know us and know what we do.
"We specialise in helping people with social anxiety, autism and things like that, and we need to get it back open as soon as possible for them. It's somewhere that's essentially needed for people, so it'll be a race to get it done.
"We're probably going to be shut for seven to 10 days. We're just going to have to figure out how make back all the money back that we lost. But to me, it's bricks and mortar. The priority right now is making sure this lad is OK in hospital, and I'll deal with the building. A building can be fixed, but people can't
"Momo's is one of the most beloved places in St Helens, but I have reached out and said its OK, it's just a building. It's a beloved building but it is just bricks and mortar and people are more important.
"We've been through so much these past five years years. We've had windows put through, we've been broken into several times, we've had flooding. It' just another one of those things we have to deal with."
READ NEXT
Man fighting for life in Thailand hospital after horror crash
Uncle and niece spend night dangling 500ft in air off cliff
Schoolboy shouts 'I'll stab your da' in attack on boy, 11
Graffiti and rubbish strewn across city gateway 'left to decline'
Primark's £7 bag looks very similar to £3,000 Chanel version
