Grandmother wrong footed in mall carpark

Firemen help to clean up the broken glass after the woman's car crashed into the bank. Photo / Christine Cornege

A grandmother looking for a carpark at a Hamilton mall ended up stopping about four metres inside a bank when she mistook the accelerator for the brake.

Constance Alchin, 81, was on a shopping trip with her granddaughter at Westfield Chartwell when the pair ended up inside a Westpac bank and injured three people.

Her son, Neil Alchin, said she went out shopping because she wanted to buy a dress for her unborn great-granddaughter in Australia.

"She was looking for a space to park when she got mixed up between the brake and the accelerator and went through the bank's front window," he said.

"She's all fine, just very shaken up ... I think now we'll be looking at whether she'll ever be driving again."

Chartwell fire station officer Darren Bowler said no one was seriously injured.

"Just a few cuts and bruises ... but she [Ms Alchin] came out smiling."

The fire crew went to help get the car out and to help clean up the broken glass from the bank window, he said.

A St John northern communications spokeswoman said three people were taken to hospital but they all had very minor injuries.