A young boy has been hospitalised after a car crashed into the front of a chicken shop.

The BMW station wagon mounted the curb and ploughed into Wicked Chicken on Allambie Rd at Allambie Heights, on Sydney’s northern beaches, just before 3pm on Sunday.

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Inside the shop, a group of young children were eating chips when the vehicle struck them.

A boy, believed to be aged about 7, suffered leg injuries and was transported to hospital, while two other children were treated by paramedics at the scene for minor injuries.

Workers from a neighbouring shop described the terrifying moment the crash occurred.

“We heard a loud bang and then we heard a kid scream and then lots of people ran. It was pretty quick,” one said.

“Crashes [happen] quite often out here because here when people reverse out, we thought maybe it would have just been on the road. But no, it was like that’s the first time anything like that has happened.”

Police believe the driver, a man in his 40s who had been parked at the front of the shop, accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

The car was towed from the scene just before 6pm, and police have commenced an investigation into the incident.