'Oh, please don't!' - Gran, 77, who ran red light and smashed into girl at crossing thinks she shouldn't get driving ban

A grandmother has been banned from driving after she mowed down a nine year old girl in front of her mum in a hit-and-run.

Dianne Hopkins, 77, hit the child on a pedestrian crossing after jumping a red light in her Vauxhall Corsa. Instead of stopping, she drove on to pick up her son from a train station.

The unnamed girl who was with her mother and family pet dog suffered a fractured eye socket and multiple cut and bruises in the impact - but when police traced Hopkins, she claimed she knew nothing of the crash.

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At Warrington magistrates court, Hopkins pleaded guilty to failing to stop after an accident and driving without due care and attention. She was disqualified from driving for 12 months, fined £200 and ordered to pay £200 in costs and victim surcharge.

When told about the ban by JPs, Hopkins pleaded: “Oh, please don’t. Where I live there are no shops. The nearest shop is over a mile away.''

The incident occurred at 7pm on November 23 last year when the little girl and her mother were taking the dog for a walk on Birchfield Road in Widnes.

They were at the crossing when the dog's lead got caught on a post. The mum was releasing the dog from the post when she heard a ''bang'' and looked round to see her daughter lying injured.

Kate Johnson prosecuting said: "The defendant collided with the dog which had gone behind the complainant and then the child. The child suffered some injuries which were a fractured eye socket which took eight weeks to heal. There was also a cut to the child’s nose."

Hopinks was traced after police carried out investigations through CCTV and ANPR, Ms Johnson said. The court heard how