This is the moment a cleaning lady has a lucky escape as she narrowly avoids being smashed into by a car travelling in reverse at speed.

The incident, in which the elderly woman driver appears to have mixed up the brake and the accelerator pedals, took place in a supermarket car park in the town of Tupa in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo on Tuesday, 1st December.

Footage shows how the woman cleaner sweeps the ground with a broom before looking up to notice the vehicle travelling in reverse towards her and leaping out of the way.

The silver Chevrolet is then seen smashing into the trolley containing the woman’s cleaning equipment, and the trolley, in turn, is rammed into the back of the woman’s legs.

The impact causes the cleaner to skid on her feet for a split second before she trips up and lands on the pavement just outside the supermarket entrance on her bum.

According to the Military Police (Brazil’s preventive police force), the driver of the vehicle was a 76-year-old woman, who told officers she lost control of the car while manoeuvring it out of the car park.

Neither she nor the cleaning lady were named by local media.

The car received some damage in the incident and a metal barrier in the car park was bent out of shape, but luckily no one was injured.

It was not reported if the elderly driver was charged or cautioned or whether she will be allowed to keep her driving licence.