A MAN was left for dead after being injured by a hit and run driver.

The 20-year-old, from Laindon, was knocked down in front of his girlfriend as he crossed London Road, Wickford.

Margaret Goodchild, a retired Essex Police special constable, was just metres away when the accident happened and sprung in to action – giving emergency first aid until paramedics arrived.

Ms Goodchild, 68, of Nevendon Road, said: “We were walking home from an evening out and I was aware there was a group of youngsters behind us.

“The next thing, I heard the roar of a car and a big thud.

“I realised what it was and spun round to see the car had hit a man.

“I ran over and the man was unconscious with blood coming from his head. I have seen enough to know that his injuries were pretty bad.”

Ms Goodchild, who left the police 18 years ago, said her training came rushing back to her.

She put him in the recovery position and checked his breathing and pulse. She said: “I held his hand and asked him to squeeze it if he could hear me – which he did.

“I just kept talking to him and reassuring that he was going to be OK.

“The paramedics were there very quickly.”

Ms Goodchild noticed pieces of car debris in the road and moved people away from the scene to preserve evidence.

She then tried to calm the victim’s girlfriend.

Ms Goodchild, who served in Basildon, Pitsea and Harlow for ten years while holding down a day job as a secretary, said: “After the paramedics arrived I had to go into the ambulance to wipe the blood off me.

“I went home that evening and could not sleep for a long time and on Monday I think the shock finally hit me.”

Police say the victim suffered serious leg and head injuries and is in a stable condition at the Royal London Hospital.

The car, described as a small, dark vehicle, was last seen heading along the A129 towards Crays Hill.

Anyone with any information about the incident on Saturday night, is asked to contact Essex Police on 101.

Second hit and run just hours later

POLICE are investigating a second hit and run on the same night.

A vehicle ploughed through a hedge in Church End Lane, Wickford, sometime in the early hours of Sunday and smashed into a trampoline and a Peugeot 307.

The grey 307 then shunted in to a white Nissan Qashqai.

Owner Kimberley Elshaarawy, 24, said: “I heard a noise at about 5am, but I just thought it was the dog bumping about.

“It was not until 5.45am when I got up to pick my husband up from work that I saw the damage.

“They had smashed into my little sister’s trampoline which was frightening because if that had happened in the day she could have been badly hurt.

“My mum’s car is written off and it is going to cost me my £400 excess to repair my car.”

Neighbours living in the street reported seeing a silver Ford Fiesta-type car leaving the scene of the crash at about 5.30am.

Police have not ruled whether the car is connected to a hit and run in London Road, Wickford, at about 11.30pm on Saturday.

Anyone with information should contact Essex Police on 101.