The ordeal of a hairdresser who suffered a serious leg injury after being hit by an invalid buggy two years ago could play a part in bringing about the introduction of driving tests for buggy users.

After the accident in Whitstable High Street, 62-year-old Denise Saddleton’s case was highlighted by a national newspaper which mounted a campaign to make mobility scooter drivers safer.

Mrs Saddleton’s leg was trapped when she was hit from behind by a buggy on the pavement outside Cheadles chemists.

It was used by the Mail on Sunday to spotlight the danger of untrained drivers taking to the roads and paths in invalid buggies and to back the paper’s call for greater safety.

Now, largely as a result of the campaign, MPs are calling for an urgent review of the safety of the buggies raising the possibility of users having to take lessons before they are allowed to drive them.

A call to make use of the buggies safer has been backed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

Mrs Saddleton said that although two years have elapsed since her accident she was delighted that “at last it looks as if something is being done.”

“My leg still hurts at times where I was hit,” she said. “And I have a horror of those buggies.

“I don’t say they should be banned. They are a lifeline to many who use them.

“But they should be driven responsibly. I’ve seen a number of dangerous incidents involving them.

“I would very much like to see the law tightened up to introduce a higher degree of safety in their use. If what happened to me was in any way instrumental in this happening then at least some good would have come from it.”

Re-living the accident Mrs Saddleton said she felt a thump in the back of her leg and then a searing pain in her ankles.

“I thought at first a car had come up on the pavement and hit me,” she said.

“I couldn’t move until the buggy was pulled off me but the driver seemed totally unconcerned. All she said was something like 'Sorry about that’ and drove off.

“I had to have time off work, my ankles are still swollen and painful and I had to take painkillers regularly for a long time.”