A FILLING station customer was trapped underneath her car after a driver crashed into the back of it on the forecourt, a court heard today.

Lisa Peppin was crushed under the weight of the car after being run over by it as she walked to the kiosk to pay for her fuel at the Harcombe Cross filling station at Chudleigh.

Staff and other drivers saved her by levering the car onto its roof using a jack and a plank of wood but she suffered serious internal injuries.

Teenaged driver Max Schroeder, who had only passed his test 16 months earlier, crashed into Mrs Peppin’s Ford Fiesta after coming off the A38 too fast during a downpour it was said at Exeter Crown Court today.

CCTV captured the moment when he tried to steer his red VW Golf past the Fiesta but hit it a heavy blow which sent the car careering forward over Mrs Peppin.

The impact was enough to push the car almost all the way to the kiosk area and to send a wheel rolling across the forecourt.

Mrs Peppin, from Plymouth, gave a harrowing account in a statement of being trapped under the car and barely able to breathe because of its weight.

Schroeder, now 21, but 19 at the time, of The Poplars, Leigh, Lancashire, denies causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He admits the lesser offence of careless driving.

His case is that the accident was caused by a momentary lapse in concentration rather than driving that fell far below a safe standard.

Mr Richard Posner, prosecuting, said the accident happened at around 3pm on February 14, 2014, in heavy rain and strong gales at the BP filling station of the westbound carriageway at Haldon Hill, near Exeter.

He said: ’The defendant drove his car too fast into a petrol station forecourt. He was unable to control the vehicle and it collided with a stationary car which moved forward and hit the driver as she walked to the kiosk for pay for her fuel.

’Schroeder had driven from Lancashire to Devon and had taken only a short 15-minute break two hours into the five-hour journey in heavy rain and strong winds.

’Our case is that his driving posed a substantial risk to others using the petrol station and was dangerous.

’The CCTV is of crucial importance. We say it shows him coming too fast off the A38 and colliding with the car. The only issue is whether this piece of driving was dangerous, because he accepts driving without due care and attention.’

In a statement which was read to the court Mrs Peppin, from Plymouth, said she was driving home when she stopped for fuel. She had finished filling her car and was walking to the kiosk when the accident happened.

She said: ’I had gone a couple of paces when I heard a massive explosion and something hit me from behind. I realised it was my own car.

’I fell onto the bonnet and then down the car and thought I was going to be run over by my car. I fell face down and was dragged a considerable distance and the car came to a stop on top of me.

’The weight of the car was on my shoulder and body and I was stuck and struggling to breathe. I passed out and do not know how long I was unconscious but when I woke up I was still trapped.

’My left cheek was on the floor. There was a woman stroking my hair. Other members of the public were trying to get the car off me and it was eventually lifted off using a wheel brace and a long piece of timber.’

The trial continues.