SIX teenagers were arrested after a stolen car caused thousands of pounds worth of damage when it ploughed into a row of cars in Cwmbran yesterday.

Four vehicles were written off by insurers and two more damaged when a stolen car lost control on Caerwent Road, Croesyceiliog, at 2.15am.

Residents woke to the sound of screeching brakes and a loud bang to find an abandoned Saab had hit the cars with such force that the front two were lifted on to those parked behind them.

Debris including bumpers and glass were also left lying on the road and pavement as they were shunted around 10ft down the street.

Police later arrested two 15-year-olds, two 14-year-olds and a 13-year-old from Cwmbran, alongside a 13-year-old from Tredegar, on suspicion of burglary.

Holly Stinchcombe, 26, was first outside after her £2000 Vauxhall Vectra bore the brunt of the impact at the junction with Cardigan Crescent.

The nurse, who lives on Caerwent Road and works at Cardiff’s Heath Hospital, only bought it a month ago and cannot afford the £300 excess required for her insurance company to pay out.

"There was a lot of hissing and we didn’t know if it was going to blow up - it was really scary," she said.

Meanwhile the front end of neighbour Sharon Wheeler’s Peugeot 306 was also destroyed when it was sandwiched between the Vectra and another neighbour’s Daewoo Matiz, which is also believed to have been written-off.

But Ms Wheeler and her partner Martin Quick, both 44, and daughter Marissa, three, were only woken by Miss Stinchcombe knocking on their door.

"I can understand if they were speeding up the road there but how they came round that corner I don’t know," Ms Wheeler said.

Residents believe the Saab came from Cardigan Crescent before the collision, after which its occupants fled the scene.

A further two cars received minor dents, but were driven away by their owners that morning, and a W-reg Vauxhall Vectra owned by Mike Williams, 47, was also written-off due to front end damage.

A spokeswoman for Gwent Police said the keys to the stolen car, which was taken away for forensic analysis, were taken from a house in the Pontnewydd area of Cwmbran at 11.30pm the previous evening.

All six suspects remained in police custody following the incident.