by Stephen Waite

A nine-year-old boy has been praised by firefighters for how he coped after a car being driven by his mum overturned.

The red Seat ended up on its roof up a bank in Conyer Road, Teynham, at 8.40am on Wednesday last week.

Mum Natasha Moss, 36, had been on her way to Grove Park School, Sittingbourne, to drop off son James when the accident happened. They both escaped relatively unharmed.

Sittingbourne crew manager Mat Barney said: "He was in a child seat with his seatbelt on. There wasn't a mark on him.

"He released his seatbelt and stayed in the car with his mum and reassured her that help was on its way.

"They ended up crawling out through an open door.

"He was a lovely lad and did some really sterling work."

Dad Ian Moss, 42, a transport co-ordinator, arrived about 15 minutes after the crash.

He said: "I was shocked to see the state of the car as I pulled up and then my wife on a stretcher.

"James was more concerned about his mum than anything.

"He had asked first if his mum was OK. Tash said she just had her hand on the horn because the car was on a bend and James was shouting for help.

"James got out with the aid of a gentleman, I'm not sure who.

"They then tried to open the driver's door but couldn't, so got Tash out through the passenger door." Natasha, who works for a nursery near Faversham, was treated for minor injuries to her arms and hands and taken to Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham.

James, who has a sister, Jessica, 11, who goes to Sittingbourne Community College, also went in the ambulance but not before his Chelsea FC lunchbox had been retrieved from the car.

Ian said: "He's a Chelsea fan and the other thing he was concerned about was his packed lunch. A fireman went to find it in the car and that stayed with James for the rest of the morning. He didn't let it go."

After just over an hour at hospital, the pair were allowed home.

Ian said James, who was allowed to stay off school on Thursday and Friday to recuperate, had been very brave.

"He's a very chatty, outgoing boy and you can't shut him up usually. He was much quieter the day it happened and the day after, but I don't think his confidence has been too bruised."

It is not known how the accident happened but Mr Barney said the road surface had been particularly "waxy".

Ian thanked the emergency services and members of the public who helped in the aftermath of the accident. The car, he added, was a write-off.