A four-year-old girl was lucky to escape injury after being trapped between two cars in a school pick-up area this afternoon.

The accident occurred on Hone Heke Rd, outside Kerikeri Primary School, about 3pm.

The child, who was not believed to be a pupil at the school, was checked at the scene by St John Ambulance and found to be unhurt.

A police spokesman said the child was ''very lucky''.

She had been caught, for reasons which had yet to be explained, between two vehicles lined up in a busy pick-up area.

The spokesman urged parents to pay close attention to their children, especially near busy roads, and use the pick-up zone outside the school for the shortest time possible and only to collect waiting children.

Parents parking in the pick-up area were contributing to congestion and the potential for accidents, he said.

Police were at the school this afternoon, talking to witnesses and photographing minor damage to the rear of a Ford Mondeo and the front of a Honda Odyssey.

Principal Paul Lindsay was not available for comment today.

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