A mum has told of the terrifying moment she was hurt when a Christmas fairground ride suddenly plummeted to the ground in Birmingham.

Police and emergency services rushed to the scene and sealed off an area around the 180ft Star Flyer ride in Centenary Square.

Two women were rushed to hospital while 11 other revellers were injured after the ride suddenly lurched backwards on Thursday (12/12) evening.

Lou Brown, from Solihull, West Mids., was on the ride when it suddenly crashed to the ground.

The BBC worker, who hurt her face, legs and arms, said: "We were on it having fun and then it just crashed to the ground."

"It felt like we were descending, not at the highest point but still quite high. We just dropped."

"It went backwards first though, which I've never seen it do before."

"All the emergency services and everyone who helped at the scene were amazing."

"This can never happen again - we are in shock and all I can think of is what if my kids were on the ride."

Video footage shared on social media shows chaotic scenes as rescue teams sealed off the area around the popular ride.

Pictures also appear to show several gondolas on the ride tangled up in the wires.

Shocked witnesses describe hearing people "screaming in terror" as the ride slammed to the ground."

John Spence, 45, from Warwick, was at the fairground with his wife Julie, 42, and their ten-year-old son Harris.

He said: "We were near the ride when we heard screaming. It wasn't your normal excited screams, this was screams of terror."

"There was a loud whoosh and bang and then pandemonium. There were lots of people in hi-vis jackets running over to help people get off the ride."

"Within a few minutes you could hear sirens. The emergency services were incredible and all so calm."

"We stayed out the way because we didn't want to make the situation worse but crowding around."

Another witness said: "We saw some of the people getting helped off the ride and several had bloody faces and were crying."

"It was really shocking."

The City Starflyer ride is provided by funfair suppliers Danter Attractions and is described as "one of the tallest rides around"."