Owner's fears for future of Blackpool comic book store after out-of-control car smashes into shop front

A resort comic book store has been left counting the cost after an out-of-control car ploughed into it after flying over a roundabout.
Connor Mitchell and Stephen Nightingale outside Infinity ComicsConnor Mitchell and Stephen Nightingale outside Infinity Comics
Connor Mitchell and Stephen Nightingale outside Infinity Comics

The owner of Infinity Comics in Lytham Road, South Shore, was today inspecting the damage and assessing the impact of being forced to close while debris was left scattered across the pavement.

The smash happened at around 5am yesterday when a Ford Mondeo went flying over the roundabout at the junction with Waterloo Road, taking a chunk out of the road as

it landed.

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The car is then thought to have clipped a lamppost before crashing into the shop.

Connor Mitchell, 26, from Cleveleys, who runs it, was told about the accident by his girlfriend.

He said: “It was just after 5am when my girlfriend woke me up and told me not to panic but a car has driven into the shop.

“I managed to get to shop just before 6am and have been here since to make sure no one breaks in and to let any customers know I’m not open at the moment.

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“It could have been much worse and I keep thinking about that, but the shop will be closed for the foreseeable future and I am worried about my trade.”

Connor opened the shop three years ago and fears the business will be affected by the shop being closed.”

“It’s a proper community atmosphere here but if I am closed for a while people may start getting their orders from elsewhere.

“I have to order my stock two months in advance from America for all of the weekly comic releases and I can’t cancel them.

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“Some of my customers are elderly and won’t see my announcements on Facebook about the closures.”

Stephen Nightingdale, whose dad owns the damaged building, said his mum was sleeping above the shop at the time of the crash.

He was told by eye-witnesses the car could have been going nearly 60mph when it hit the roundabout.

He said: “Luckily, she hasn’t been injured but the crash has caused significant damage to the building and there are now cracks showing in the front of her flat. She is shook up and scared to go back into the flat at the moment.

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“My dad is also in hospital at the moment so this has come at a really bad time.

“It looks like the shop could be shut for nearly two months. I’m more worried about Connor as it’s his livelihood and he has been a great tenant.”

Lancashire Police said: “We were called to the incident at 5.30am following reports a car had left the road near to the Royal Oak Hotel.

“A Ford Mondeo has gone over a roundabout and then collided with a building.”

A man was arrested for failing to give a breath sample.