Emergency crews rescued a motorist from the wreckage after the car he was driving crashed into a Hitchin garage last night.

Police, paramedics and firefighters were called to the scene in Hawthorn Close, on the south-western edge of the town, after the crash involving a black Vauxhall Astra at about 6pm.

A Herts police spokeswoman said the car appeared to have collided with a fence before smashing into the garage. The driver was trapped inside afterwards.

Watch Commander Mark Burgess from Hitchin fire station told the Comet crews from Hitchin and Stevenage had rushed to the scene alongside a specialist rescue unit from St Albans.

“A car had been driven through a fence and was embedded in a garage,” he said.

“The structure was deemed unsafe. However, working alongside colleagues from the East of England Ambulance Service, East Anglian Air Ambulance and Hazardous Area Response Team, a rescue was carried out in a safe manner.

“The elderly gentleman involved was conveyed to hospital by the ambulance service.”

An ambulance service spokesman said two ambulance crews, a rapid response vehicle, an ambulance officer, an East Anglian Air Ambulance response car and a Hazardous Area Response Team were sent to the scene, and treated a man aged in his 80s.

He said: “We have no information on the man’s injuries, but he was conscious on the crews’ arrival.”

The man was taken to Stevenage’s Lister Hospital for further treatment.

A fire service spokesman said the incident was dealt with by 8pm. Police said the Vauxhall was recovered.