A car overturned and crashed into the front of a Norwich fish and chip this afternoon.

A team who run a fish and chip shop north of the city have spoken of their shock at finding out a car had smashed into the front of the building.

The crash happened at about 3.30pm today when a blue Ford Fiesta came off the road, overturned and ended up hitting the The Frying Machine, in Catton Grove Road,

Alan Kelly, 61, who owns The Frying Machine, said nobody was in the building at the time of the crash, and that one of his employees had arrived at the shop to get ready to open for the evening to find the car in the window.

He said: 'I am flabbergastered by what happened. The car went straight through the railings and has damaged both doors, and smashed the windows, and damaged the brick wall.

'Thankfully nobody was in the shop at the time.'

The shop is closed tonight but Mr Kelly said he hoped to open up tomorrow if the building is structurally safe.

Twenty-two-year-old Becca Duffield, the employee who had been due to open up the shop, said: 'I was just walking down the road and saw there was a lot of people around the shop. Then I saw the car. I could not believe it.

'I am so glad that I did not walk to work earlier because I could have been walking into the shop when it happened.'

Mr Kelly's daughter Amanda Corder, 37, who also works in the shop, said: 'I could not believe it when I saw the car in the window. Thank goodness there was nobody in the shop.'

A number of the shop's regular customers also spoke of their shock.

Christine Carr, 45, who lives in Fiddlewood, said: 'I had come down to get some fish and chips for tea.

'I am glad nobody was hurt. There could have been people queuing outside the shop.'

Pamela Walsh, 52, who also lives in Fiddlewood, said: 'I have never seen anything like it.

'If it had been 10 or 15 minutes later there could have been people outside the shop.

'Children often stand outside the shop playing on the railings waiting for their parents.'

PC Forbes Scott, from the road policing unit based at Wymondham, said the car appeared to have come from St Faiths Road, crossed the traffic lights and lost control.

'It mounted the kerb, overturned and hit the fish and chip shop,' he said.

'The driver, a male in his 20s, and the passenger appeared to be unhurt, and nobody was injured as far as we know.'

The road was shut following the crash but re-opened at about 5.30pm.

An East of England Ambulance spokesman said a rapid response vehicle and an ambulance were sent to the scene but nobody was taken to hospital.

• Anybody with information about the crash should call Norfolk Police on 0845 4564567.