'Miracle' claims as car ploughs into church, narrowly missing parishioners

A group of seven women had just finished crafting and were sitting at a cafe table praying before they ate lunch when suddenly a car crashed through glass doors and headed straight towards them.

Just 45 seconds before that, barista Ben had locked those same glass doors and then walked away

They hadn't realised that outside St Mark's Anglican Church in West Wollongong an elderly female driver had lost control of her car and was heading straight for them.

The motorist, aged in her 70s, crashed her car through the church's boundary fence on Crown Street, through its playground and then into its cafe.

CCTV footage from inside the cafe shows she then took a sharp turn to the left, crashing through dining tables and smashing out through more glass doors into a car park.

Her small red car then slammed into a parked vehicle before a bystander rushed to help and put the brakes on the woman's vehicle.

"The cafe had closed a minute before, but there was a group of ladies sitting at the cafe, and the car missed them by a metre or two," Reverend Alex Zunica said.

"There had been kids playing in the playground earlier."

Rev Zunica was not at the church when the accident occurred at 1.31pm on Monday, June 2, and when he received the photos his staff sent through, it made him shudder.

"When I first saw the photos I was very, very concerned," he said.

"I'm very thankful to God that nobody was hurt, but it's quite traumatic for the people who were using the cafe."

Click on the photo to see more pictures.

Rev Zunica said the elderly driver was conscious when her car finally came to a stop in the church's car park.

Despite the damage to the church's cafe and boundary fence, the business was able to reopen on Tuesday morning and services will run as usual this Sunday.

The playgroup will, however, be held in the church's hall until repairs are made.

Paramedics treated the elderly driver at the scene. However, she was not taken to hospital.

Police officers were called to the scene and have commenced an investigation, at this stage no charges have been laid.

If you have any information that could assist police call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.