Taxi smashes into Cashmere's The Cup cafe

A Christchurch cafe owner says it is "very very lucky" no one was seriously hurt after a woman drove a taxi through her front window. 

The crash happened at The Cup cafe and wine bar, near a primary school on Cashmere hill, about 3.10pm today.

Police said the First Direct taxi was understood to have been travelling downhill towards the intersection of Dyers Pass and Hackthorne roads where the cafe was sited.

The taxi driver was uninjured.

Two cafe customers were treated for minor injuries with one taken to Christchurch Hospital. 

Police said the cafe was busy at the time of the crash and it was fortunate no one was seriously injured.

Cafe owner Paula Besley said staff reported seeing the driver travelling down Hackthorne Rd before she crashed into the cafe. 

"There was no screech of the brakes or anything." 

She said one customer suffered a "couple of bumps on her head" but was not seriously injured.

"It's very, very lucky. Normally we're absolutely full with kids coming in after school getting treats."

Besley said staff were busy trying to get the building secure and hoped to have it repaired and reopened within a couple of days.

The crash remains under investigation. 

The road outside the cafe remained open, "but they're not serving coffee" this afternoon, the spokesman said. 

First Direct operations manager Carmel Edlin said the taxi driver was "fine but shaken". 

She was new to taxi driving and had been going to pick up several children from a nearby school when the crash happened.

"It appears the brakes have gone. It's just an unfortunate incident," Edlin said.