A SHOPPER has told how he rescued a young York supermarket worker after a car smashed through a window and pinned her against a desk.

Sam Richards pushed the Ford Fiesta back to free the woman, who was trapped at the Waitrose store in Foss Islands Road when the car was accidentally reversed through the window by an elderly female driver.

He and several others then looked after the shocked worker, trying to shield her from a window pane which was dangling overhead and looked in danger of falling near her, until paramedics arrived.

The young woman suffered cuts, bruises and shock, while the driver was temporarily trapped in her car but was uninjured in the accident, which happened on Saturday afternoon and is being investigated by police.

Shoppers were evacuated and the store was closed after the crash, but the window was boarded up and debris cleared away overnight, and it was able to reopen as normal yesterday.

Mr Richards, 42, an IT worker of Dunnington, said he was shopping with his wife Jade and 20-month-old daughter Poppy and was standing only feet away when the car came through the window.

“There was a loud bang, like an explosion,” he said. “I heard her screaming for help and ran over.

It's quite a light car so I was able to push it back and then she was lying on the ground. Her hands were cut by glass.”

His wife Jade said: “We had let a couple go in front of us as they had less items. We had our daughter with us and I dread to think of what would have happened to her had we been a few seconds ahead.

“Fortunately, she was sitting in the seat on the trolley but could have been running around in that area.

“When the car hit, there was a huge bang and just for a second I thought there had been an explosion. It was absolutely terrifying.

I went to grab Poppy to ensure she was safe and then got to my phone to ring 999, but by then Sam had sprinted over and pushed the car off the staff member. He stayed with her until help arrived and went with her to the ambulance.

“There was glass everywhere.

A big piece of window was precariously hanging over them, but he kept calm and acted quickly. He really was a hero.”

A Waitrose spokeswoman said: “Thankfully nobody was seriously injured and we're very grateful to the emergency services for their prompt and expert response.”