Woman arrested after car crashes into nursery playground in Ellesmere Port

A 63-year-old woman was arrested after a car drove through a fence and into the playground at Partou Sunny Days Nursery and Pre-school in Ellesmere Port, leaving a two-year-old boy seriously injured and two other children with minor injuries. The crash on Vale Road in the Whitby area has put child safety and the protection of nursery grounds under intense scrutiny.

Emergency services were called at about 9.54am on Monday 15 June 2026 after reports that a car had entered the nursery playground. Witnesses described a major response at the scene, with two ambulances, an air ambulance, a fire engine and four police vehicles, including an armed response vehicle, attending the incident in the Whitby area of the town.

The two-year-old boy was taken to hospital for further treatment after suffering serious injuries. Cheshire Police said the boy’s next of kin had been informed. Two other children were also hurt, sustaining minor injuries.

Police arrested the 63-year-old woman on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Officers attended with the North West Ambulance Service and found that a car had driven through a fence into the playground area. Cheshire Police said the incident is believed to be isolated and that enquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances.

The scene has raised stark questions about the physical protections surrounding places designed for young children, especially where nurseries sit close to roads and moving traffic. In this case, the fence that separated the playground from Vale Road was not enough to keep a vehicle out, and the consequences were immediate for children, staff and families connected to the nursery.

With the investigation ongoing, the focus remains on the injured boy, the two other children and the sequence of events that allowed a car to reach a nursery playground in the middle of the morning. The arrest and the police inquiry now move the case from a shocking incident into a wider test of how securely family spaces are defended from vehicle incursions.