A four-year-old girl was recovering in hospital today after being hit by a car as she went to an ice-cream van. It happened near her home in Walsall.

Summer Harris was with her father Lee when she was hit by the car near her Chapel Street home in Blakenall yesterday afternoon.

The Bloxwich CE School pupil ran in front of the van and into the path of an passing pink Peugeot 206 driven by a woman motorist.

Summer suffered a broken collarbone and concussion and was airlifted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where she is expected to make a full recovery. Her 37-year-old father said he and his partner Donna Mayou, aged 27, were still in shock over the incident. He had taken Summer, her sister Sarah, eight, and brothers Jacque, nine, and Sam, three, to buy ice cream when the accident happened at about 5.30pm.

He said she had a fractured right collarbone and some grazes on her knees but it was hoped she would be allowed home today. 

“I saw the car coming and as I turned to make sure the children were standing close to me Summer just ran out into the road,” he added. “I shouted her name, but it was too late, the car hit her. We’re relieved she’s OK.”

The car driver, a Bloxwich woman, was unhurt.