Samara Hussain said she had been suffering panic attacks since the ordeal and is now too scared to get into any car without her mother close by, after being told she would be killed unless she kept quiet.

The 15-year-old, from Rotherham, was waiting in the car during a day-trip to Birmingham with her mother, who had stopped at a shop to buy some sweets.

Two men then jumped in and drove off. Samara said: "I thought it was my auntie driving off and asked why she was driving like that. They said 'you had better shut up or you will die'."

The hijackers stopped to pick up a third man who, when he realised Samara was blind, told the other two to abandon her and the car – about two miles away from where they had taken it.

When police found Samara, her mother Safinna Hussain was rushed to the scene.

Mrs Hussain, 35, said: "I could not see Samara when we got to the car and that moment was the worst time of my life."

Samara needed hospital treatment for shock.