A young girl is in a serious condition in hospital after she was crushed by a horse in Norfolk.

The 14-year-old was flown by air ambulance to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge after a horse collapsed on top of her and caused a serious head injury.

Ambulance crews were called to reports that the girl was trapped beneath the horse at Blackwater Lane in Great Witchingham just after 3pm today (Wednesday).

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust dispatched a rapid response vehicle, an ambulance, an officer and a doctor and scrambled the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) and Magpas - the emergency medical charity.

A spokeswoman for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust said crews assessed and treated the girl at the scene before she was flown to hospital by air ambulance.

She said: 'Crews performed rapid sequence induction (RSI) - a pre-hospital procedure to anaesthetise and artificially ventilate - and stabilised her so she could be airlifted by Magpas to Addenbrooke's Hospital for further treatment.'

She added that, during the initial 999 call, it was stated that the horse was already dead.

Fire crews from Aylsham and an emergency tender from Great Yarmouth also went to the scene, but the girl was released before they arrived.

Just after 8pm, Norfolk police issued a statement saying that the girl was stable in hospital. They also revealed that the girl had been riding the horse when it collapsed and died.

They statement said a joint police and Health and Safety Executive investigation was underway to examine what had happened.

A Norfolk police spokesman said: 'Although we're in the early stages of our investigation, early indications are that this was a tragic accident.'

Police added they were not seeking any witnesses.