A TAXI firm’s office had to be evacuated after a car smashed into it and left large cracks in the walls of the building.

The car was driving past Bullitt Cars in Badger Street, Bury, when it suffered a blow-out and careered into the building at about 3.30pm yesterday.

The smash demolished the front end of the car, but the woman driver escaped with only minor injuries after her airbags inflated.

She was treated by paramedics at the scene, but did not go to hospital.

Firefighters evacuated the taxi office and requested a buildings inspector to come and look at it before allowing the company’s five workers back in.

Watch commander Steve Wilcock, of Bury fire station, said: “The impact rocked the whole building. There were cracks all over the building, going up the walls and around the window frames.

“It’s really given it a good knock. Fortunately it was a single storey building, because if there had been more weight bearing down on it, it could have been a lot worse.

“It looks like they’ve had a bit of an earthquake inside.”

Paul Harrison, an operator at Bullitt Cars, said: “It’s done a lot of damage. We’re lucky the ceiling’s not come down.”