Heroic care workers rushed to the aid of an elderly lady following a collision in the middle of Dereham.

The alarm was raised at around 1pm on Wednesday (November 17) afternoon, when the woman was knocked over by a van near the William H Brown shop in the Market Place.

Fortunately, staff from the Dereham branch of I Care Service Norfolk were just a few yards away and on hand to help.

Mark Pepperell, financial director with the in-home care provider, was among them, and called upon his colleague, Katie Apps.

"I was just at work and Mark shouted from the bottom of the stairs to say there was a lady who was injured," said Ms Apps.

"He asked whether I could help, and of course that's what I did.

"She had a cut on the back of her head, so I kept compression on the wound. It is the sort of thing that is not too much of a big deal to me.

"Where she had the head injury, she was starting to show signs of concussion.

"I just kept her talking for about half an hour until the ambulance arrived."

After the woman was taken to hospital, local people were quick to sing the praises of Ms Apps and her colleagues.

But the experienced care coordinator said she had simply employed the skills she uses in her day job.

The 42-year-old added: "To me, it doesn't feel like I did much.

"I didn't think much of it at the time. I just mucked in and got on with it.

"It is not the first time we have had to do something like that. There have been a couple of incidents in the town that we have jumped to.

"It's not something we mind doing at all."

Mr Pepperell, who is co-director at I Care alongside his partner, Sarah Wyatt, was also keen to praise his staff.

"We could see the lady was clearly injured, so offered to bring her in her," said Mr Pepperell.

"Katie was there to help and is a highly-qualified first aider.

"I Care is a small team looking after local people - about 100 in the Dereham area. This incident is the type of thing that fits in with our profile and epitomises what we are all about."