PA
A toddler has been knocked down by an 'out-of-control' mobility scooter in a shopping centre.
Three-year-old Chanel Smith was at Burton Place shopping centre in Staffordshire when the scooter, driven by a middle aged woman, knocked her over and dragged her across a shop floor at 4mph.
Chanel's frantic mum dragged the scooter off her, and she was taken to Burton's Queen's Hospital.
The little girl escaped serious injury, but her mum said she 'wouldn't stop crying' and was awake that night with nightmares over the incident.
Mrs Smith told the Daily Mail: "We were in the shop when a lady in her 40s on a mobility scooter came along, went forward and crashed into my daughter. She was dragged halfway across the shop and I had to physically pull the scooter off her. If I hadn't done that it would have just carried on over her. It was absolutely horrific."
"She was left with a headache and feeling sick, and she's got a poorly toe where it got caught in the wheel, but she's been really lucky."
Mrs Smith, who also had her two-year-old son Elliot with her at the time, said she wanted to warn people about the potential dangers of the scooters: "I just wanted to make people aware how dangerous these things can be because I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else. I felt a bit sorry for the lady because it was not her fault. She looked really scared and sorry, but I think people should be given more training before they use these scooters."
An East Staffordshire Borough Council spokesman said one of its staff had attended the scene and would be carrying out a 'full investigation'.
Have you had a run-in with a mobility scooter? DO their drivers need more training?