ARARAT - Landmark Harcourts Ararat had to deal with an unexpected visitor at the weekend when an out of control four wheel drive careered through the front of its Barkly Street business on Saturday night.
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The occupants of the vehicle, which had a glider and trailer attached, had left it on the opposite side of Barkly Street when they reported seeing it roll in their direction before coming to rest in the businesses frontage.
Real Estate manager Greg Kerr said the most important thing was that no one was injured and that both parties are insured.
Early estimates put the damage bill from the crash at $3,000, with a large pane of glass, drawers, sign writing and front counter all falling foul of the out of control vehicle.
"The front counter was moved back a couple of feet, once it (four wheel drive) had that bit of momentum with the weight behind it, it wasn't going to be easy to stop," Mr Kerr said.
The incident occurred just after 8.30pm, Mr Kerr's wife Kim had only just finished work at the front counter 20 minutes earlier.
"If she had have still been there then she would have been in for quite a surprise," he said.
The driver of the four wheel drive received an on-the-spot penalty notice from police for failing to apply the hand brake to secure the vehicle.
It comes as a timely reminder for drivers of all ages to take extra care as incidents of a similar nature begin to become more prevalent.
Just six months ago a driver mistook the accelerator for the brake and ploughed into the front of Lyal Eales in the middle of the morning in the busy shopping thoroughfare.
