A dad-of-four living in a house frequently struck by vehicles fears another collision could see it collapse and leave his family dead in the road.

Dr Tom Nichols’ 19th-century home in Old Dover Road, Canterbury, has been hit three times in the last 18 months - by a drunk driver, an elderly motorist and even a bus.

The locum GP is concerned another accident could prove fatal, revealing the worry has left his family on tenterhooks and his wife struggling to sleep.

He says the house is particularly vulnerable as it borders the road, with no footpath or garden separating the front of the property and the carriageway.

“There are two bedrooms at the top of the house - one is the master where my wife and I sleep,” the 45-year-old said.

“Our worry is there will be a large vehicle, such as a tractor, which does not understand the safety issue as it is not normal to have a building right against the carriageway; they will take the corner out, the whole house will collapse and we will die in the road.

“Tractors, double-decker buses and lorries create the biggest risks to our lives - everything else is a risk to the house.”

Dr Nichols says the most recent collision occurred last Monday, when he found the wing mirror of a Stagecoach bus at the side of his home and damage to an exterior wall.

He complained to the company as the incident was not reported to him.

“Our house has been hit thrice in the past 18 months,” Dr Nichols added.

“The first was a drunk driver who hit it in March last year.

“She hit the safety bollard - destroying it - and her car then rolled, flipped over and skidded down the road.

“She was injured and taken to hospital by ambulance.

“Another time an elderly driver was coming down the road towards the city and smacked into the safety bollard, destroying it, further damaging the patio next door and scraped down my wall, taking off bricks and chunks of a pillar before knocking down a castiron downpipe.”

The bollard, which warned drivers about the home on the Canterbury-bound side of Old Dover Road, has yet to be replaced.

Dr Nichols says without it vehicles now drive closer to the house, causing the building to vibrate more.

He also says his home, which was extended onto the road’s edge by previous owners decades ago, impacts sightlines for motorists turning out of Ethelbert Road onto Old Dover Road.

“Many times a day, we have people coming out and horns are beeping because there is no visibility,” he said.

“They cannot see so they start edging out, but there are near-misses, easily up to eight times a day.

“There is effing and blinding, and road rage.”

Until recently, Dr Nichols says his family had not considered moving as they were “tolerating” the issues.

But he says now: “At this point, we are really unhappy.

“My wife is having problems sleeping because every time a heavy vehicle goes past, the house shudders and we are waiting for the next crash to happen.

“Our hope is something can be done to improve road safety but if not, I do not know how we are going to sell the house with this number of crashes.

“It is going to have a serious impact on the property value and whether we can afford to move.”

Dr Nichols is calling for Kent County Council to improve road safety along the stretch of road.

An authority spokesperson says it receives many requests for improvements to highways, which are all reviewed and prioritised.

"In the event of serious and fatal road crashes, Kent Police will put together a report on the details of the incident and carry out investigations to understand possible causes,” they said.

“The report and results of any investigations are then shared with KCC who, upon the advice from Kent Police, will subsequently undertake any work to help prevent a similar type of incident from occurring again.

“We have not yet received a report from the police for this incident."