FOUR pensioners on a coaching holiday and two pedestrians were injured after a runaway car ploughed into them in Marlborough High Street.

The accident happened when a Suzuki Grand Vitara 4X4 careered off the road and mounted the pavement opposite the Town Hall. Shoppers scattered as the vehicle travelled for 40 feet along the pavement before hitting six people outside Smith's greengrocers.

It came to rest with its engine running when it hit a set of steel pillars at the front of the Ailesbury Court office complex.

Four of the most seriously injured casualties were from a coach party travelling from Bristol to the Warner Hotel in Chilton Foliat.

One woman was lying semi-conscious on the pavement, while a male member of the party suffered a broken ankle.

Another man had to be given oxygen at the scene.

Shoppers comforted the casualties before paramedics arrived.

Also injured was a mother-of-three from Marlborough.

Four ambulances took the casualties to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, although none of the injuries are believed to be life threatening.

Eyewitness Charlene Twisk, a grandmother from Savernake, was outside the greengrocers shop when the car mounted the kerb.

She said: "It would have hit me if I had not been bending forward to pick up some tomatoes."

The driver of the Suzuki, a woman in her late 30s, was said to be shocked, but was otherwise unhurt after losing control of the vehicle.

There were no other passengers inside the vehicle, which was severely damaged and had to be towed away.

The four holidaymakers were on a trip organised by Devon-based Majestic Tours.

They were among 38 passengers who boarded a coach at Bristol earlier in the day and were planning a five-day break in Chilton Foliat, near Hungerford.

The party stopped in Marlborough for lunch, and passengers were exploring the historic town when the accident happened.

Coach driver Robin Tillbrook, 58, said: "The other passengers are a bit shaken-up. "Most people on the trip didn't know each other before they got on the coach, but I think the four who were injured were friends."

PC Richard Oakman, of Marlborough police, was on patrol in the town when the accident happened and was at the scene within seconds.

He said the vehicle headed into the town centre from the London Road direction.

It was driven across a pedestrian crossing at the Town Hall before mounting the pavement.

No one was arrested in connection with the incident, but police are to interview the driver of the Suzuki.

Witnesses should call Marlborough police on 01672 512311.