SHOPPERS watched in horror yesterday as a toddler was killed when an out-of-control car ploughed into a group of pedestrians.

The blue BMW 320 appeared to take to the air before smashing into a lamppost, knocking it over onto the people below.

The car overturned, landing on its roof and almost hitting the wall of a pub, before coming to rest with smoke billowing out of the back.

Paramedics fought to save the life of two-year-old Megan Raybold, from Scarborough, but she was certified dead on arrival at the resort's general hospital.

The car driver, Joan Howard, 80, from South Cliff, Scarborough, suffered minor injuries and was also taken to the hospital. Last night, she was in a comfortable condition.

Her passenger and two other pedestrians, one a man with head injuries, were also taken to hospital by ambulance.

The accident happened shortly before 1pm in Falconer's Road in the centre of the town, at the junction with St Nicholas Cliff and Huntriss Row, near the Pickwick Inn.

Witness Rachel Emerson, a hotel worker, was waiting in a nearby car when she saw the accident.

"We saw a BMW just fly into the air, turn over and hit the lamppost," she said.

"People were running about trying to help."

Three ambulances, a paramedic fast-response car and a local GP attended the scene of the accident.

"We tried very hard to save the little girl but there was nothing we could do," said a spokesman for the ambulance service.

Police accident investigation experts closed the road as they attempted to piece together the cause of the crash and the wrecked BMW was removed at about 4pm