A 12-year-old boy was “thrown 30ft” when a car ploughed into him and his father as they walked to an aunt’s funeral in Shropshire, his grandfather said today.

Councillor Rob Bentley, Market Drayton mayor, said “it was only by the grace of God” his grandson Jordan had not been killed in the crash at Adderley.

Councillor Bentley and his family were attending the funeral of his 72-year-old sister Winnie Booth, from Audlem, at St Peter’s Church, Adderley, on Tuesday, when the smash happened on the A529 outside.

He missed the funeral as he waited with his injured son, Peter, and Jordan for paramedics to arrive.

He said: “My heart dropped when I heard what had happened. There was panic outside and I felt bad because I had to choose between what I owed the living and what I owed the dead.

“I went outside and was just relieved there was a doctor and a nurse among the mourners because they checked the injured people over. The paramedics were brilliant when they arrived.”Jordan and Peter, 37, of Grosvenor Road, Market Drayton, were among four people struck by a black Renault Megane.

The two other victims, not related to the family, are understood to have suffered less serious injuries.

Witnesses said the mourners were walking along a stretch of road without pavements when the car hit them. They were making their way to the church after parking in a car park.

Jordan, a pupil at Grove School in Market Drayton, suffered head and knee injuries in the collision, which happened at about 11am.

He was airlifted to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent. The hospital said he was discharged yesterday. His father has also been discharged.