Business owners and shoppers rushed to help a woman who is believed to have been trapped under her own car for about an hour.

The accident happened in Thurston in the Station Hill car park, near a hair salon and the new Co-op store, at about 1pm today, Friday, February 22.

Workers and passersby came to the woman’s aid after it is understood her right leg became trapped under the wheel while her left leg was inside the car on the driver’s side.

The owner of Trawlers Catch fish and chip shop said people tried to lift the vehicle off her leg using a jack, but due to the difficult nature of the incident they had to wait for the emergency services.

He said: “Everyone was panicking to be honest. Everyone was trying to help her.

“We didn’t realise at first her left leg was trapped awkwardly so it made it impossible to move her.”

He added: “It was a very unusual situation.”

He said she had been trying to park outside a new barber’s shop, near the main road, when it happened.

Police, ambulance, the fire service and the East Anglian Air Ambulance all attended the accident in the village, which is near Bury St Edmunds.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service sent one appliance from Elmswell and one from Bury St Edmunds.

A spokesman for the fire service said firefighters used low-pressure air bags to lift the vehicle off the women after reports it had rolled over her.

The ambulance service was initially called to the incident, but called for additional assistance from the air ambulance, the spokesman added.

The woman was released from the car by about 2pm and was taken to hospital by ambulance.

She has been stabilised, but an assessment of her condition is still ongoing.

A spokesperson from the East of England Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 1.03pm with reports of a patient trapped under a car at the junction of Station Hill and Laurel Close, Thurston.

“We sent an ambulance, ambulance officer and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance.

“One person was taken to West Suffolk Hospital for further treatment.”

The Station Hill car park is next to Thurston train station and near the award-winning Fox and Hounds pub.