'Wonder woman' saves car on Plymouth main road after handbrake fails

Ridgeway Plympton
The incident happened on February 2 outside Old Priory Junior Academy, Ridgeway in Plympton. Credit: BPM Media

A woman from Plymouth has been nicknamed 'wonder woman' after she rushed to stop a car from rolling when its handbrake failed.

Christina Jane, aged 65, was on her way to work on Wednesday 2 February when she caught sight of a car rolling down a hill on the Ridgeway in Plympton.

The fast-thinking woman dropped her belongings and ran to the vehicle, where she held it in place to stop it from moving any further.

Christina, who is from St Jude's said: "I picked up speed, started to run, dropped my bags and got behind the car and held it. I can't believe I did it, even now. I was holding this car and no-one was helping me. I was shouting for help!

"Two young girls came down and asked if I was ok and whether it was my car. I said this one was rolling so they pulled over and got onto the phone. So I'm still there holding this car with heeled shoes on and then a van driver came down and I said I think the handbrake's gone and he said we'll push the car to my van and wait for the police.

"But because I had to go to work I jumped in my car, thanked everyone for their help and left. By the time I got into work I was quite shaky, and I can't believe I actually did it."

Christina has now been dubbed 'wonder woman', and she added: "At the ripe old age of 65 I have never come across this before, I am so pleased no one was hurt and the owner of the car had no damage."

It comes after a vehicle was reported to have overturned outside a Plympton primary school, but police later clarified that the car's handbrake was suspected to have failed.

Inrix, a traffic and travel system, reported that a car crashed on the Ridgeway, outside Old Priory Junior Academy, at around 12.45pm.

However, Devon and Cornwall Police said that no vehicles overturned and no cars had crashed.

Devon and Cornwall Police said in a statement: "A parked car appears to have had a suspected handbrake failure and rolled down the road – but no overturned vehicles on that road and no collision."