Police have arrested a driver for driving while impaired after his car ploughed into a florist?s, leaving a huge hole in the wall of the newly-revamped shop.

The owner of Demco Florist on South Road, Devonshire, has spoken of her relief that no-one was hurt during the crash drama at 2.40 a.m. yesterday.

The Nissan Sentra car is said by the Police to have been travelling east when the 21-year-old driver lost control while trying to negotiate a right-hand bend.

The resulting impact with the shop left gaping hole in the thick Bermuda stone wall, measuring around five feet by four feet. The driver, from Devonshire, was subsequently arrested and detained at Hamilton Police Station, where he failed the alco-analyser test.

Leonora Araujo, the shocked owner of the business, is now waiting to hear how much the repair bill will be. Demco has only been in the newly-revamped shop since May when it moved there from its previous location in King Street, Hamilton.

Mrs. Araujo, 64, of Smith?s Parish told she was awoken by a telephone call from the Police in the early hours, informing her about the accident.

?They told me that when they took the car out of the wall, it would not be safe to leave it like that. I went down to the shop and after they took it out, a couple of guys helped me to put a piece of plywood to block the hole. I eventually got home at about 4 a.m.? she said.

The vehicle landed where the cashier usually stands during the day, and Mrs. Araujo said: ?I?m just glad that no-one was hurt, as someone could have been killed. If someone had been there when it happened, it could have been really disastrous.?

Rachel Smith, 31, who works at the shop, said: ?The customers are pretty shocked by what happened. We opened as usual this morning although we can?t use the till and credit card machine which are right behind the hole.?

The damage is believed to be covered by insurance, but a cost-assessment has yet to be carried out. The arrested man has been bailed, and is likely to appear in court in the next couple of weeks, according to a Police spokesman.