A WOMAN was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after being knocked down by a hit and run driver as she walked across a zebra crossing.

Passing motorists rushed to her aid after she was hit by the vehicle in Clay Hill Road, Basildon, at about 1.30pm yesterday.

Essex Air Ambulance was called to the scene and landed in nearby Swan Mead Park. The woman, in her thirties, was airlifted to a major trauma centre at the Queens Hospital, Romford.

Martin Lockhart, a paramedic for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) who attended the incident, said: "The woman, who we believe to be in her 30s, sustained several injuries including two suspected fractured ankles and a head injury.

"We assessed the patient and the decision was made that she needed to be taken to a major trauma centre. She was anaethetised on scene by the critical care team from the air ambulance, before being flown to Queen's Hospital in London in a life-threatening condition.

"All of the emergency services worked very well together at the incident."

The woman is now understood to be in a stable condition at the hospital.

Police are still searching for the driver and say they have no information about the make or model of the vehicle.

Officers cordoned off the scene to search for evidence once the woman had been taken to hospital.

The road was shut for several hours between the junction of Sunnedon and Church Road while their investigations took place.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Pc Jenny Pirie at the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on Essex Police 101 or email collisionappeal@essex.pnn.police.uk