Boy, 4, left in road after hit and run horror

Hammaad Ahmed, aged four, was playing with friends close to his house in Church Avenue, Deane, when he was dealt a glancing blow by a passing a white car. The driver then sped off without stopping.

The boy suffered facial injuries including a broken cheekbone.

Police traffic officers are hunting the driver and today condemned him as "irresponsible" for not stopping following Friday evening's incident.

Hammaad's father Sajid said he realised something dreadful had happened when he saw the horror-struck face of a neighbour in the street.

Mr Ahmed said: "I rushed to the front door and saw my son lying in the road. All sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind as I ran towards him. I saw blood around his mouth and head. I picked him up and took him back into the house."

Hammaad was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital where he received five stitches to his lips and was treated for cuts, bruises and a broken cheekbone. He was detained in hospital overnight and was allowed home at the weekend.

Mr Ahmed said: "Hammaad is only a four-year-old child and so it is likely he may have run out into the road and it was not the driver's fault. To me, what is the driver's fault, is the fact that he did not stop."

Hammaad was due to start his first day in a new class at Brandwood County Primary School, Daubhill, tomorrow, but, instead will be recovering at home preparing to have his stitches removed.

Sgt Ken Carter of Bolton Traffic Police said: "We are appealing for witnesses. The driver of the car was totally irresponsible to drive off after hitting a child and we want him to caught."

The incident is the latest in a series of hit-and-run incidents. As previously reported in the BEN, shock figures have revealed a third of all motorists involved in accidents on Bolton's roads flee the scene.

Traffic police admit the number of hit-and-run accidents is on the increase in the town, with more than 950 drivers speeding away from crash scenes last year.