Five people have been rushed to hospital after a car ploughed into pedestrians on a busy Edinburgh street with a driver arrested.

Emergency services rushed to the scene with two women, an 11-year-old boy, a 7-year-old girl and a taxi driver rushed to the Royal Infirmary at around 7pm on the Cowgate on Thursday. A 53-year-old driver of a Volkswagen Golf was arrested as police investigate the incident and he has been released “pending further enquiry”.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said that five people had been hit by the Golf and the pedestrians were taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. They added that a 50-year-old woman is in a stable condition in hospital while the others have been released after treatment.

The statement read: “Around 6.55pm on Thursday, 2 November, officers were called to a report of a road crash on Cowgate, Edinburgh. Two women aged 50 and 42 years, a 54-year-old man, an 11-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl had been struck by a Volkswagen Golf. The car had also struck a stationary taxi being driven by a 50-year-old man.”