Police are appealing for witnesses after a man suffered life-threatening injuries in a collision in Lee-on-the-Solent yesterday afternoon (June 26)

Police were called just after 2pm, following a collision involving a pedestrian and a Ford Transit van on Marine Parade West.

The pedestrian, a man in his 80s, has suffered severe injuries and has been taken to hospital, where he remains.

Following the incident the van failed to stop, but after some initial enquiries it was located in Curdridge.

A 48-year-old man from Gosport has been arrested on suspicion of being in charge of a motor vehicle while alcohol level above limit, failing to stop, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving whilst unfit through drink and driving whilst unfit through drugs.

He remains in custody.

While officers have heard from a number of people who have had information which has assisted with enquiries so far, officers remain keen to speak with anyone who can assist who hasn’t been spoken with.

A nearby witness to the incident said:

“My son saw it happen.

He said that a dark van was going quite fast and the older guy was crossing the road but not at the bollard crossing and the next thing he saw was the man spinning in the air and landed on the floor with a crash.

There were lots of blood coming from the casualty.

The van then sped off, slowed down and then carried on with a smashed windscreen.

I ran over to the man and could see he had heavy bleeding from his scalp so I asked a resident for a towel to compress the bleeding.

I knelt down and tried to keep the guy conscious by asking him questions.

An off duty paramedic that was passing then took over so we left the scene.

It was horrific and something we never want to witness again.

There was a couple of young girls at the scene who managed to get pics of the van so hopefully he will be caught soon.”

Officers are particularly keen to hear from anyone with dash cam footage of the collision, or the moments just before or after.

Anyone with information should call 101, quoting the reference 44220254443.