A car was turned into a potentially lethal missile when it was launched down a hill, across a busy road, and into the garden wall of a couple living opposite.

It was only the sturdy brick wall and thick hedge that prevented the car from smashing into property in St Hilda’s Way, on the corner of Valley Drive, Gravesend.

Judith Dartnell, owner of the purple Nissan Micra, was visiting her brother who lives at the top of the hill in Whitehill Lane, and parked her car outside his house at 10.10pm on Saturday.

She woke the next morning to find the vehicle gone and assumed it had been stolen.

Mrs Dartnell, 44, said: “My brother said he’d give me a lift to work, and as we were driving along I suddenly saw a flash of purple.

“When I looked closer I saw my beautiful car sitting in someone’s front garden, it was quite a surreal moment.”

Wendy and John Giles were woken just after 1am on Sunday by a man knocking on their door.

Mr Giles said: “The man had seen the car in our front garden and thought someone may have been hurt so he woke us up.”

He said he was dismayed to see the damage to his garden, but was not totally surprised.

“We are going to ask the council for a barrier to be put up around the hill, because we do get people driving across it, and even rolling stuff, like car tyres, down it, probably aiming at passing cars,” he added.

“Someone could get killed. That car was rolled down the hill without its engine running and no lights, no one would have heard or seen it coming.”

Ivan Kennor, 29, lives opposite the Giles’ house with his partner and two young children.

He agrees that something needs to be done.

“It is quite common to see random tyres at the bottom of the hill that have been rolled down, and we often see people driving across it in cars and on motorbikes,” he said.

“It is a bit concering now that this has happened, especially since the tracks showed the car was heading for our house.”