Sergeant James van Engelen of Warrnambool police said the churchgoer was backing out of a car park in Henna Street between Lava and Koroit streets when the incident occurred. 

“It looks like she was parked across the road in front of the church,” he said.

“As she was backing out, she’s seen another car coming … and she’s hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

“She’s then hit the tree and hit the curb and it’s flipped the car (on it’s side).”

The female driver was not injured in the incident but was taken to hospital as a precaution.

SES, CFA, paramedics and police received the call around 11.45am.

The section of Henna Street was blocked until about 12.10pm.

The woman was trapped in her car for about 15 minutes.

A large number of emergency vehicles attended the scene, which drew a large crowd of onlookers.

Warrnambool SES deputy controller Stephen Bakker said CFA and SES volunteers used a winch to get car back on to its wheels and free the woman.

“Once the ambos had checked her out it took about a minute (to right the car),” he said.

“The whole operation only took about five minutes.”