The teenager is being treated at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for multiple injuries that are serious but not thought to be life-threatening.

The scene at the roadside cottage near Panbride this morning was one of utter devastation.

Mr Spalding’s bed lies underneath tons of glass and rubble.

“The first thing I heard was a bang and then it was all dark,” said Mr Spalding today. “At first I thought it was an explosion. I don’t remember too much after that, other than being outside.”

With only a limp to show for his misadventure, Mr Spalding admitted he had been very lucky.

“Looking at my home I don’t feel lucky, but I suppose I must be,” he said.

Mr Spalding’s daughter, Mrs Donna Glennan, said her mother, Mary, had called to tell her of the accident.

“Mum was in the house at the time, although she was in another room,” Mrs Glennan said.

“She told me that a car had crashed into the house and that dad was hurt. But nothing prepared me for what I saw.

“There’s virtually nothing left of the bedroom and I can still hardly believe dad walked out.

“Those walls must be two feet thick and his bed is covered in rubble. I dread to think what the outcome might have been if it had been a new house. I don’t think a new house would have stood up to it. We could all be looking at a very different situation today.”

Mrs Glennan said her husband had gone to collect her father and mother when they were released from hospital around 3am.

“None of us has had any sleep and we’re all still in a bit of a daze,” she added.

Mrs Glennan said the teenage driver had remained conscious throughout the delicate two-hour operation to free her from the mangled car.

“I think it must have been shock that kept her going,” she said, ”All she kept saying was that she was sorry.”

The family hope that when structural engineers have inspected the cottage they will declare it safe to use while it is repaired.

At the moment they have no electricity, the power supply having been cut off by firefighters.

The couple rent the cottage from a local farmer and hope to be able to use the undamaged rooms and perhaps site a caravan in the garden for them to sleep in.

Tayside Police said that the nature of the accident, which also involved a second vehicle driven by the girl’s boyfriend, was the subject of an investigation.