A FIVE-year-old boy was seriously injured at Matchams Raceway on Saturday night when a runaway wheel from a car crashed into the crowd.

The frightening incident happened at about 8.30pm and left the little lad unconscious and suffering serious head injuries.

Event organisers brought the meeting to a close while the emergency services looked after the injured boy.

A South Western Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We had reports of a five-year-old male being knocked out. We had a responder on the scene so he was able to be treated at the scene straight away."

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It is understood the boy was taken to Poole General Hospital.

A spokesman for Trojan International, which runs Matchams Raceway, said: "We are not going to comment on it at the moment, until we know the lad is okay.

"Until we finish our reports internally, we are not going to say anything."

A message from Trojan International's "Craig and Nadine" posted on the Matchams Raceway website on Saturday said: "Those who were there we hope will understand that we cancelled the rest of the meeting due to a freak accident that happened during the Thunder Rod Final tonight.

"Our thoughts go to the parents of the child who was injured this evening due to a wheel going into the crowd causing an injury that we hope he will be strong enough to pull through."