AN eight-year-old girl was thrown into the air when she was struck by a car as her distraught mum looked on.

The youngster, who the Echo agreed not to name, was told she was lucky to escape with just cuts and bruise, as well as a missing tooth, after the crash in Craven Avenue, Canvey.

She had just popped into a bakery for a sausage roll before she was hit and was making her way back to her mum.

Her mum was just metres away on the other side of the road, but her screams were not enough of a warning for the child.

She said: “I stood outside the back of the car and watched her cross the road.

“They had no sausage rolls, so she was only in the shop for 30 seconds rather than a minute or two.

“I was looking into the car at my other two children, and she must not have been able to see the car coming round the corner.

“Before I even realised she had been knocked up in the air.

“It was so hard to see, I thought I had screamed in time to stop her but she had already been hit.

“The doctors have said she was so lucky to just have superficial injuries and a missing tooth.

“It all happened so quickly, but she is definitely a lucky little girl.”

Despite the horrible accident, her mum admitted it was heart-warming to see the reaction of everyone near-by.

She said: “So many people jumped in to help straight away

“Everyone wanted to help, there was one gentlemen who sat with her while his wife got me a drink.

“I was in hysterics and didn’t know what to do, but everyone helped a lot.”

The girl was treated at the scene at roughly 4.45pm on Tuesday, before being taken to Southend Hospital for treatment.

The police and ambulances services both attended, but no arrests were made.

An ambulance spokesman said: “We were called to Craven Avenue, Canvey, yesterday at approximately 4.40pm after reports of a female child being hit by a car. An ambulance and an ambulance car were sent.

“On arrival the patient received treatment for an arm injury, she was then conveyed to Southend Hospital for further treatment.”

An Essex Police spokesman said: “We were called to a report of a crash involving a car and an eight year-old girl in Craven Avenue, Canvey. We attended. The girl was taken to hospital but it is not believed her injuries are serious. No-one has been arrested.”