An elderly woman had to be airlifted to hospital this afternoon after she tried to stop her van rolling down a hill and smashing through park railings in Truro.

She was attempting to save her seven year old grandson, who was sat in the blue VW transporter van as it rolled backwards off Hendra Road.

Eyewitnesses said she ran after the van and tried to apply the handbrake, but was "run over" by the vehicle in the process.

Emergency services were called to the scene just before 4pm.

The woman was treated at the scene and airlifted from Boscawen Park to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. She is believed to have suffered serious leg injuries. 

The seven-year-old escaped uninjured.