2:06PM, Fri Aug 17, 2012

Newcastle Man Crushed By His Own Sports Car

By Hugh Macknight Location: Heaton

A man was crushed by his own car as it is believed he was trying to bump start it in Newcastle.

Neighbours and nearby builders rushed to help the man, who eyewitnesses said had been pushing his yellow Alfa Romeo sports car up Mowbray Street in Heaton, Newcastle around 9am on Thursday.

Paramedics and firefighters arrived at the scene to free the man.

Construction workers at nearby Hotspur Primary School said the man became trapped between two cars.

The man, 50, was taken to Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and is in a critical but stable condition.

One elderly neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said she had opened her curtains to find police, firefighters and paramedics outside her home.

She said: “It was just after 9am and I got up, opened the blinds and there were fire engines and an ambulance in the road, with about half a dozen police cars parked at the top of the street, blocking it off.

“Naturally I went outside to see what was going on.

“An Italian gentleman – I think he’s a hairdresser in his 50s – had been pushing his yellow sports car up the street to try and start it when he slipped and went under it.”

A construction worker near the scene said: "It was nasty. He’d just been trying to bump start it, but it ran him over.”

Northumbria Police are now appealing for anyone who saw what happened to come forward.