A car is in the pond at the BMI Healthcare, St Edmunds Hospital in Bury.

ONE driver got an excellent parking spot outside a Bury St Edmunds hospital yesterday - the only problem was she would have had to swim to get to the reception.

Two women, believed to be in their 70s, were rescued from the car after it plunged into an ornimental pond at the BMI St Edmunds Hospital in St Mary’s Square.

The 6ft-deep pond has a metal safety mesh under the water to prevent people drowning but the blue Toyota Corolla was still part submerged.

The women were unable to leave the car and fire crews had to be called to rescue them - they suffered only minor injuries.

The driver told firefighters she panicked after reversing into a post and put her foot on the accelerator.

Peter Lord, executive director at the hospital said: “Someone on reception heard a noise and looked out to find a car in the pond and called the emergency services, our clinical teams came rushing out to reassure the passenger and driver.”

A Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “There was two elderly woman, the car reversed into a post, one of them panicked, slammed her foot down but it was an automatic and she hit the accelerator and went straight into the pond.

“There was a metal grate in the water which stopped them sinking but the water still went up to the windows.”

He added the fire service used a floating pontoon, which was put under the car to retrieve it.

When the paramedics arrived they checked on the condition of the two women before fire crews used hydraulic gear to remove them from the car.

They were then taken to West Suffolk Hospital with what is believed to be minor injuries.