A jinxed motorist today vowed he would never drive again after smashing into the same house for the second time.

Eric Williams, 61, has pledged to stop driving for good after blacking out at the wheel of his Ford Escort and ploughing into the living room of a home in First Avenue, Windy Bank, Hightown - almost a year to the day after he did exactly the same thing.

Mr Williams, of Blackburn Buildings, Brighouse, whose son, daughter-in-law and four-year-old grandson were in the car at the time of the accident, said: "I just can't put into words how sorry I am. I am utterly shocked.

"I can't understand how it could have happened almost a year to the day.

"It is like someone has put a curse on me."

The retired caretaker had been visiting his former wife nearby when he suffered the blackout which sent the car crashing through a garden wall and into the front window of the house, where it became lodged.

Householder Gordon White, 62, who was out at the time of the accident, said: "I was coming down the road when someone told me about it but I thought they were just joking.

"It wasn't until I saw the fire engines and people gathered outside my house that I realised. I had only just got the house comfortable after the last time.

"But these things happen and I am not annoyed about it. It was an accident and I am just glad nobody was hurt."

A neighbour, who did not wish to be named, who witnessed the accident, said: "I saw the car come flying past. It must have bounced on to the kerb and lunged into his living room.

"I thought 'oh no, not again'. Gordon had only just finished getting it sorted out after the last time. You really don't expect things like this to happen twice but it was lucky he was out and there were no schoolchildren walking past.

"Somebody must be looking down on him for him to escape something like this twice."

Mr White, who has lived at the council-owned property for the past 40 years, must now await the results of a structural report but believes the front of the house will have to be pulled down and rebuilt. "That's life," he said. "But life is comical."

Mr Williams said: "My son said I just froze solid like a dummy and was staring ahead gripping the wheel.

"He tried to grab the steering wheel but my hands were so stiff he couldn't move it so he put the handbrake on and knocked it out of gear."

Mr Williams, who was given the all-clear by medics after the last accident, added: "I don't care what the doctors tell me this time, I will never drive again."

All four passengers escaped the accident with minor injuries.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "The incident will be investigated and action taken if appropriate."