A SEVEN-MONTH-OLD baby miraculously escaped unscathed after a spooked police horse "trampled" on the pram she was sitting in on a York street.

Little Eden Stockton-Wilde was tucked up and strapped into her pram when it was stood on by the large animal on High Ousegate, in the city centre, on Tuesday.

The mounted police horse completely split the pram in half lengthways and Eden was trapped inside the crushed structure.

Incredibly, Eden emerged without a scratch on her, but mum Kirsty Wilde has told how she thought her daughter must have been dead.

Reliving the heart-stopping moment, Kirsty revealed she screamed out: "My baby, my baby."

The 38-year-old mum-of-two said: "The horse impacted the pram and it completely folded in on itself.

"I could not see Eden at all as she was stuck underneath. At first she did not make a noise, I really thought she must be dead.

"If you'd have seen how damaged the pram was, you could see how unbelievable that she has come away from this without a scratch or a bruise."

Kirsty, from Stockton, Stockton-on-Tees, was visiting York with her mum, Sue Wilde, 65, and elder daughter, Amelia, 17, at around 1pm on Tuesday.

They had visited the city on the train and were enjoying a pleasant day in the sunshine when the tragedy happened.

Nail technician Kirsty said: "Amelia is a singer so we went to York for her to do a bit of busking.

"We were standing at the sides watching a street performer juggling on a unicycle, you can imagine how busy it was, when we saw two police officers on horses.

"We decided to go over so Amelia could ask if she was allowed to busk there.

"She had just finished speaking to them, when suddenly the horse was spooked by something.

"The pram was hit immediately, and it split in half and folded in on itself.

"My mum was hurt as she was pushed by the horse, as she was with the pram.

"The horse even stepped back onto Amelia.

"The police officer was shouting: 'Stand back, stand back', and we were all screaming.

"It was absolutely horrendous. Totally totally awful. It has shaken us to the core. I am still upset and shaking now.

"I still can't stop crying and didn't sleep at all last night, thinking what could have happened. And how, for a moment, I thought I'd lost her.

"When I pulled Eden from the pram I just held her close. She started screaming as I held her and it was such a relief because I knew she was alive."

A paramedic close by came over to attend to the family and a passing woman called the ambulance.

Two other people, a 60-year-old woman and an 11-year-old girl in a wheelchair, who were across the road were also injured.

Kirsty said: "I didn't really pay enough attention of what was going on around me to see what was going on with the others.

"I remember looking over and seeing the officer who was riding the horse in tears."

Kirsty and Eden were taken straight to the hospital where doctors and nurses there told her it was a miracle that there was not a scratch on her.

Sue and Amelia were taken to the hospital by the police, who provided them with a brand new pushchair.

Kirsty said: "The police went straight to Argos and bought me a new pushchair. That was good of them.

"They have since called to see how we are but have not yet explained what happened or apologised."

The family are all now at home but Kirsty is still feeling jittery about the incident.

She is going to go back to the hospital today to have Eden checked over as she fears she is not quite herself.

Kirsty said: "There was no need for police horses to be at a tourist attraction like that.

"They are big and potentially dangerous animals. You can see why they are needed at football matches for crowd control but in a picturesque old city on a sunny day? No way.

"We are all lucky that it has ended as it has. It could have had a terrible outcome.

"I hope they learn their lesson from this."

Kirsty's partner, Malcolm Stockton, 38, who sells crossword for a living, said: "It's absolutely outrageous that something like this could happen in a crowded place."

The horse was attending the launch of Project Servator - a police scheme to deter, detect and disrupt criminal activity in crowded places.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: "An incident took place in the centre of York on Tuesday at approximately 1pm which involved a police horse and three members of the public.

"The horse, which was from a neighbouring police force, was in York for the launch of Project Servator.

"A young child was taken to hospital as a precaution and has since been released. An 11-year-old girl and a woman in her 60s also suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment."

Assistant Chief Constable Amanda Oliver, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "We apologise to those affected by the incident in York on Tuesday afternoon.

"Thankfully there were no serious injuries and North Yorkshire Police immediately replaced the damaged pushchair.

"Police horses are a welcome sight for our communities. They are highly trained to operate in public places for deployments. Incidents such as this are extremely rare.

"I understand that this was a shock for those concerned and I am sorry this has happened.

"Our officers are supporting the people involved while we carry out a review of the incident to establish the full circumstances."