A driver has been charged after a three-year-old girl was fatally struck while she was playing on a driveway.

Police said the girl was hit as the vehicle entered the driveway on Normanby Road, Auburn, around 2.05pm on Tuesday.

Emergency services were called to reports that a child had been hit by a car.

The girl was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being transported to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition.

However, she later died in hospital.

“The driver – a 27-year-old man – was uninjured and was taken to Auburn Hospital for mandatory testing,” said a NSW Police statement.

After his release from hospital, the man was taken to Auburn Police Station where he was charged with negligent driving (occasioning death).

He was granted conditional bail to appear before Burwood Local Court on Wednesday.

Neighbour Yuyi Hao told the ABC she was on her balcony when she heard a loud noise, followed by shouting.

“I saw her mother very worried and crying,” she said.

Hao said she often saw the girl and her brother playing on the street near their home.

“Sometimes I’m walking and I saw them, they’re very happy,” she said.

“It’s very sad because I’m a mother, so I hear the girl dying is very sad.”