Driver hits two pedestrians before ploughing into Reigate shop front

A mother passed out at the wheel of her 4x4 and hit two pedestrians before smashing into a town centre shop front in Reigate at 8.45am today.

The woman, who was taking her son to school, appeared to lose control before mounting the pavement and clipping the wall of a building society.

Smash: The scene of the crash on Church Street, Reigate
Emergency: Two pedestrians and the driver were taken to East Surrey Hospital
Crunch: The driver was taken to hospital following the smash
Witness: Fiona Sim, 18.
Recovery: Paramedics and staff at the Holmesdale Building Society treated the injured
Assisted: Nick Pettitt and Hilary Scott of the Holmesdale Building Society, Church Street, Reigate

Her silver Toyota then ploughed into a 17-year-old Reigate College student, known as Eddie, before careering through rush-hour traffic in Church Street.

The vehicle knocked down a middle-aged man in a suit on the other side of the road before crashing into the wall of the Anglian Window Centre.

Paramedics were on the scene within minutes and took the mother and her son, and the two pedestrians to East Surrey Hospital.

Fiona Sim, 18, said: "I was just walking down towards college, I was waiting to cross the road.

"She was completely erratic, I saw her car mount the kerb on the other side of the road, then it hit my friend Eddie – he just fell over, I thought 'Oh my God'.

"Then I realised another man had been hit on the other side [of the road], he was wearing a suit, he must have been on his way to work.

"But they both stood up afterwards."

Sheltered from the rain, the two pedestrians were treated by paramedics in the Holmesdale Building Society, Church Street.

Compliance Manager, Nick Pettitt, 45, said: "I had just arrived, turned on my computer and heard a loud bang, then there was pandemonium.

"I called for an ambulance, but there was a paramedic car here pretty quickly, I think it was passing at the time luckily.

"They [the pedestrians] were brought inside her as it was raining, but they seemed okay but both a bit shocked, but they were walking wounded."

Cashier, Hillary Scott, 51, of Priory Road, Reigate, said: "I was walking along Church Street at the time, I passed Eddie on the street.

"I heard a bang but didn't think anything of it, when I got back I just checked the pedestrians over, Eddie's leg was giving him quite a bit of pain."

Police were still directing traffic at 10.30am, one lane of Church Street was blocked by an ambulance and police vehicles.

South East Coast Ambulance spokesman, Rich Airey, told the Mirror the injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.