There were panicked scenes at a busy Sydney beach on Monday after a car crashed over a concrete wall to land amid swimmers and sunbakers.

Emergency services were called to Balmoral beach in Mosman about 1.15pm after reports the car had crash-landed onto the sand.

The Kia four-wheel-drive landed on its roof, landing only metres from a young family and startling dozens of beachgoers.

“We heard a huge crash – it sounded like a bomb – and then turned to see the car flying through the concrete wall, flipping in the air and landing on its roof in the sand,” one woman told the Daily Mail.

Another woman described helping the 33-year-old woman driver and her 55-year-old passenger from the Kia.

“Everyone just screamed and ran out of the way and the car fell upside down,” she said.

“We honestly didn’t know whether the people had survived it as it was smashed.

“Once we opened the doors, both of them were able to get out.

“They were in shock but not hurt, just a few scratches.”

The woman, a P-plate driver, apparently mounted a kerb while parking on The Esplanade. She panicked and accelerated over the grass, before hitting a concrete seawall.

“The driver was in the process of leaving a parking space,” Acting Inspector Sean Donnelly said.

“In doing so, the vehicle has come up onto the grassed area before going onto the beach area and flipping over.

“It has gone nose-in and, as it has gone over through the brickwork, it has tipped over onto its roof.”

The driver was treated at the scene by paramedics for minor injuries. Her passenger was not injured.

There were no injuries among beachgoers.

“It is a beautiful day and school holidays with a lot of people around. It is very lucky no one was injured,” Donnelly said.

One beachgoer said the impact of the car felt like an “earthquake”.

“We just heard a big thump and a loud noise and next thing my sister turns around and says, ‘There’s a car, quick, let’s get up’, and it just flipped right over,” a witness told the Nine Network.

Police said the driver was breath-tested. She returned a negative result.

The car was removed from the beach later in the afternoon.