Lucky escape for mum and toddler (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Lucky escape for mum and toddler

A FAIRFORD mother and son had a lucky escape this week when their car ploughed into two petrol pumps.

The accident happened at the S & R Motors garage on the northbound carriageway on the A419 near Cricklade last Thursday morning.

Tammy Hartshorn, 22, was driving her red Renault Clio onto the garage forecourt when she braked too late and demolished two petrol pumps and missed a bystander by inches. Her son Travis, four, was a passenger in the car.

She said: "I was pulling in to the garage and must have just forgotten that it was raining. I braked too hard and lost control of the car.

"It was a real shock - I didn't think I was going that fast but because it was wet and slippery the car skidded.

"For four seconds it was just a blank. I don't even remember the car spinning."

Tammy has bruising to her right arm, while her son has a friction burn from her seatbelt. But her new car is a write-off.

Rahim Menshi, 33, the owner of the garage, said: "It's very lucky there wasn't a fatality as there was another car filling up at the time.

"It missed one of our workers by about two inches and when the police re-played the video they said they couldn't believe there wasn't a fatality. "She must have lost control completely."

The lucky man who was almost knocked over was Neil Greener, 52, of Whitworth Road. He works as a driver at the garage.

He said: "I was trying to put petrol in the car when I heard skidding and saw this car hurtling towards me.

"It flattened the petrol pump into the main support of the roof, spun round and landed a few inches from me.

"I still feel a bit shaken up, but the main thing is they are okay.

"My friend got the young boy out of the car and I had to move the car quickly because petrol fumes were escaping.

"I didn't start the engine - I just pushed it away."

Fire crews from Cricklade and Stratton were called to the incident, while Tammy and Travis were taken to Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

Bruce Weatherston, sub officer at Stratton Fire Station, said: "The lady didn't stop in time. She collided with two pumps and ripped them completely out of the ground.

"There was somebody filling up at the time so it was a lucky escape."