TWO women, believed to be in their 70s, have been rescued from a car after it plunged into a pond at a Bury St Edmunds hospital.

At about 12.15pm this afternoon a blue Toyota Corolla car went into a pond about six-foot deep at the BMI St Edmunds Hospital in St Mary’s Square.

A member of staff heard a noise and rushed out to see what had happened.

One fire engine and the water incident vehicle from Bury St. Edmunds, along with water incident vehicle from Princes Street, Ipswich, were called to the scene at about 12.20pm

An ambulance arrived at about 12.25pm.

Peter Lord, executive director at the hospital said: “Someone on reception heard a noise and looked out to find a car in the pond and called the emergency services, our clinical teams came rushing out to reassure the passenger and driver.”

A Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “There was two elderly woman, the car reversed into a post, one of them panicked, slammed her foot down but it was an automatic and she hit the accelerator and went straight into the pond.

“There was a metal grate in the water which stopped them sinking but the water still went up to the windows.”

He added the fire service used a floating pontoon, which was put under the car to retrieve it.

When the paramedics arrived they checked on the condition of the two women before fire crews used hydraulic gear to remove the women from the car.

They were then taken to West Suffolk Hospital with what is believed to be minor injuries.