Plymouth girl crushed under car wheel

A two-year-old girl is critically ill in hospital after she was crushed under the wheel of a car she had started.

The girl climbed into the car on the driveway of her home in Honicknowle, Plymouth, on Friday afternoon.

As the car lurched backwards she was thrown under the front wheel on the driver's side, in what police called a freak accident.

She is being treated for serious head injuries at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

Sgt Gary Williamson, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "The car driver called at the house to pick up a child.

"Her mother was talking to the owner of the car when the two year old clambered into the driving seat and started the engine.

"It shot back and she fell under the front driver-side wheel."

The girl was left unconscious on the ground after the accident in Chard Barton at 1645 BST on Friday.

Neighbour Barry Dunridge, an ex-Army medic, was first on the scene.

"I ran over and saw her body on the ground. She was unconscious," she said.

Her husband attempted to resuscitate the girl before an ambulance arrived.

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said the accident had left the community shocked.

"We are still taking in what has happened," she said.

"Everyone is praying for her and thinking about her."