A TAXI driver told today how he helped lift a car with his bare hands to rescue a child trapped in a road accident.

Stewart Ainley, of 3Cs Taxis, was passing Beverley Road Post Office, Norton, when he saw a young girl trapped underneath the rear of a blue Ford Escort.

Mr Ainley and his passenger, a medically-trained dental nurse, stepped in to assist another Samaritan already helping at the scene.

"We lifted the car up for my passenger," said Mr Ainley.

"She slid the girl out from underneath and we then put the car down and let the experts get on with it," he said.

Mr Ainley, who does not know the other helper, modestly insisted his actions were nothing special.

"My involvement was fairly low-key," he said.

Mr Ainley said he was not at first sure if lifting the car would do more harm than good, but that his passenger "took charge of the situation."

A police spokeswoman named the girl as Roberta Lester, aged four, from Scampston, and said it appeared she had run into the side of the car.

She was taken by ambulance to York District Hospital with head, arm, wrist and leg injuries.

The hospital said Roberta's condition was "improving."

The driver of the Ford Escort, Mary Reynolds, from Beverley Road in Norton, was taken by ambulance to Scarborough Hospital suffering from shock but was discharged.

The experience has made Mr Ainley think about learning first aid techniques:

"It just makes you wonder whether you should consider first aid training. The thought comes into your head afterwards," he said.

Councillor Jim Kench called for a pedestrian crossing to be installed on Beverley Road at last night's meeting of Norton Town Council.

He said: "Sadly a girl was involved in a serious accident at the weekend.

"There are a lot of accidents on Beverley Road, more people are living there and they should have a controlled crossing."

Councillors are to discuss the issue at tomorrow night's meeting of the Norton road safety committee.