A teenager was saved from serious injury when her boyfriend pushed her out of the way of a car which collided with a group of people.

Melissa Attree and her boyfriend were meeting up with friends on Medway City Estate on Friday night when the Mini ploughed into the group of bystanders, leaving 15 injured.

Witnesses to the crash have spoken of their horror as the weekly gathering of car enthusiasts ended in disaster with people “run down like bowling pins” on the industrial estate in Strood.

Four men, aged between 20 and 50, were taken to a London hospital with serious injuries. One of those was discharged on Friday, October 7, but the last known condition of the other three was that they were in a serious but stable condition at King’s College Hospital.

Melissa's dad, Russ Attree, said: “Her boyfriend pushed her out of the way of the car. She doesn’t remember the incident, she was knocked out. She’s home now but has slight concussion, whiplash and is a bit bruised.

VIDEO: Emergency services at the scene of the crash. Credit: Toby Diamond.

“As a parent and as a car enthusiast myself, I’m more than happy for her to go to these meets. They go to look at the cars, they love looking at the cars, the engines, the bodywork.

“But some of the kids think they’re invincible and it’s the innocent people who get hurt and the person who’s behind the wheel gets to walk away. I’ve got no sympathy for the driver, none whatsoever.

“I just hope that everybody pulls through and everybody makes a full recovery. I have nothing but praise for the emergency services, they were absolutely fantastic. I want to say a big thank you to the two soldiers and everyone that helped.”

Several witnesses described how some close to the scene detained the driver and made him sit on the ground until the police arrived.

The 18-year-old from Greenhithe was taken to Darent Valley Hospital.

Witness Emily Waters said she thought the driver of the Mini Cooper was driving fast and the car was swerving in the road.

“My partner said ‘I’m going to stand behind this tree because he’s going to hit someone’,” she said. “We saw the back of his car and he just ploughed into a group of bystanders.

“We ran over to see if everyone was all right and there were about four or five people trapped under the car. My partner, his two friends and some others lifted the car up so we could get the people out.”

The 22-year-old from Higham occasionally meets up with her friends on the estate and said it was a last minute decision to go there on Friday evening.

“You don’t expect it to happen, you get a couple of people who want to race around and they get told to leave,” she said.

“It’s more of a static meet where we show our cars off rather than driving. You don’t expect to see people being run down like bowling pins it’s not very nice. This is the first accident I’ve seen at a car meet.

“I’m a bit shook up by it. I keep replaying it in my head. There were just people lying everywhere on the floor – it was like something out of a horror film. You can’t really describe it, it was just so horrible to see.”

The accident happened just after 10.15pm and officers were already on the estate responding to reports of a disturbance involving nuisance vehicles when the collision took place. There had earlier been fears that the estate had once again become a magnet for "boy racers". More than 20 ambulance staff attended the scene on Friday.

Those most seriously injured were taken to King’s College Hospital in London. Others were taken to Medway Maritime Hospital with injuries ranging in severity.

A further four people were treated at the scene but did not require hospital treatment. The total number of injured was 15. Some of those injured are thought to be from the Greenhithe and Meopham areas.

A minute’s silence was held at Kent Cruising’s meet at Strood Retail Park on Saturday night to wish all of those injured a full and speedy recovery.

An 18-year-old man from Eltham who was arrested in connection with the incident has been released on police bail until November 14 pending further enquiries.

The police are now appealing for information or footage from the incident.

Sergeant Scott Lynch, from Kent Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “We are conducting numerous enquiries into this incident and would like to speak to anyone with information who has not yet spoken to officers.

“A lot of people were in the area at the time and we believe that some of them may have video or pictures of the collision – I would like to encourage anyone with footage to get in contact with us as it could be vital for our investigation.”

Anyone with information should call Kent Police on 01622 798538.