Boy, 3, hit by out-of-control car

A three-year-old boy is today fighting for his life after a car careered out of control across a central reservation crashing into his pushchair.

Two people, believed to be the toddler's parents, looked on in horror as a black Volvo displaying a battered learnerplate on the rear bumper veered towards them as they waited on a small traffic island in the middle of Tudbrook Way in Kidbrooke, near Lewisham.

The youngster was dragged beneath the car, which finally came to a halt after smashing into a signpost a few yards away.

One bystander, who had rushed from the nearby Ferrier Estate to the crash site, said: " The blonde- haired woman with the baby was beside herself - she was crying her eyes out.

"An air ambulance flew overhead but in the end the little boy was taken by road in an ambulance to hospital. The police later breathalysed the woman driving the Volvo and she was taken away. " The boy was taken to Lewisham hospital but was later transferred to Guy's hospital, accompanied by his parents and grandparents.

A spokesman for Lewisham hospital said the boy had suffered multiple injuries to his head, chest and legs.

His condition was later described as critical.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "We believe the boy and two adults were on the central reservation when the car was in collision with the buggy.

"An investigation into the incident is now under way."

The woman with the youngster also suffered leg injuries, which were treated at hospital, and her condition was said to be stable.

The woman driver was arrested in connection with the collision and, after questioning at a south London police station, she was bailed to return at a future date pending further enquiries.