AN 85-year-old woman has suffered serious injuries following a car mounting the pavement earlier this morning.

A call was made to Dorset Police at 9.50am with reports of a collision in Swanage involving a pedestrian and a vehicle, which has resulted in the victim being taken to hospital by ambulance.

The incident involved a Suzuki Grand Vitara, registered to a woman from Swanage, which was being driven by a male from Swanage in his 50s.

Shore Road is also closed while emergency services, including Dorset Fire and Rescue Service attend the scene.

The 85-year-old woman has suffered serious leg injuries and is understood to have been the only pedestrian injured.

Police are trying to establish how many people were involved in the incident.

One onlooker, who works in Golden Girl boutique, said: “The car missed the shop window by inches. I heard an almighty crash and then screams, and so I immediately went out to try and help.”

She said that she spoke to a woman, who said that it was her mother who was in collision with the car.

“I sat the daughter down and got some blankets to wrap around her, as she was in a state of shock.

“I saw the ambulance service put a drip in the man's arm, and then they put him in the back of the ambulance.”

Another onlooker, who asked not to be named, said: “I arrived at work at 9.55am just after the accident must have happened.

She added: “At the moment, the fire service are trying to remove the car from the pavement, which it mounted, and then hit a bollard.

“The woman who was hit by the car is elderly and I heard that she her leg was broken. She was lying on the pavement with her head about an inch away from the wheel.

The accident took place outside the Purl n Lace shop.

A police spokesman told the Daily Echo that an 85-year-old woman from Swanage had been seriously injured and has been taken to hospital.

The spokesman said there were no reports of any other pedestrians being injured.

The driver of the car, a man in his 50s from Swanage, has also been taken away in an ambulance.

Purbeck Police tweeted: "Due to a road traffic accident which has occurred this morning outside of Budgens, Station Road, Swanage there are currently serious traffic congestion problems.

"If you can avoid the area please do. Will update when road clears."