A SCHOOLGIRL had a lucky escape after being crushed by a car in a family friend’s driveway this morning.

The 10-year-old was trapped after a handbrake failure in Bournemouth Road, Poole.

Witness Roy Eveleigh, who was in the passenger seat of a vehicle driving past, tried to force the car off the youngster after hearing screams.

He said: “I could hear screaming, and at first I didn’t think anything of it, but then I heard a girl shouting, ‘Mummy, mummy’.

“The car had been parked in a sloped driveway, and it had rolled and crushed her between the rear passenger door and the gatepost. She had the full weight of the car crushing her against the wall.”

Roy leapt from the car and tried desperately to free the little girl.

The mother of the little girl’s friend raced down the driveway and moved the car forward to release the child, who collapsed onto the driveway and fell unconscious.

Roy said: “She was out for about 30 seconds.

“When she opened her eyes, they were completely unfocused. I just felt so helpless.”

But despite her ordeal, the girl escaped with barely a scratch.

A spokesperson from the South Western Ambulance Service said: “The little girl suffered some chest pain and was taken to Poole General Hospital as a precaution.

“However, it is not thought she suffered any lasting damage.”

Dorset Police said they were called to the incident at around 8.30am, and confirmed that there was no one in the vehicle when it started to roll.