POLICE have appealed for witnesses to a crash which saw a five-month-old baby thrown down an embankment in his pushchair.

A Peugeot 307, being driven by a 19-year-old local man, left the road on a bend, mounted the pavement and was in collision with the 33-year-old woman who was walking with a pushchair.

The baby boy’s mother suffered serious injuries when she collided with a tree after the two of them were struck by a car. Her little son sustained minor injuries.

The woman was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to Dorset County Hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

The baby boy sustained only minor injuries and was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital for a check-up.

The driver of the Peugeot was uninjured.

The accident took place at around 4.20pm on Friday January 13 just outside Milton Abbas on the road heading towards Milborne St Andrew.

Police, firefighters from Blandford – supported by a technical rescue team from Poole – and ambulance crews were alerted.

Locals told of emergency services racing through the area and a car which had gone off the road near the top of the lake. They hoped those involved were okay.

Police Constable Mark Palmer, of the Dorset Police traffic unit, said: “I am appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident or the manner of driving of the Peugeot immediately before or at the time of the collision to please contact Dorset Police.

“The road was closed for a short time to allow emergency services to deal with the incident and I would like to thank motorists for their patience during the road closures.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police on 101, quoting incident number 13:281. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

A woman who lives near the crash scene and whose fence was damaged in the incident said: “You can see all the tyre marks on the road. They obviously came off the road and onto the pavement which is quite a height and it has completely broken through the fence.”

Another local said: “I was at work at the time, but my husband said he could hear the baby crying for a long time.”