Shock as man seriously injured in Weymouth hit-and-run

A manhunt is now underway for the driver of the car.

Police said a car crashed into two pedestrians in Abbotsbury Road near to the junction with Cromwell Road at just before 8.30pm on Tuesday.

One of the pedestrians, a man aged in his 20s, sustained serious injuries and was taken by air ambulance to Southampton General Hospital. His family has been informed.

The second pedestrian, a man aged in his 30s, did not sustain any serious injuries.

The car involved – a black Volkswagen Golf – failed to stop.

It was found abandoned a short time later further down Abbotsbury Road, near the junction with Alma Road - the two male occupants having fled the scene.

Police and paramedics rushed to the scene of the crash and the Dorset and Somerset Air ambulance landed at The Marsh.

Abbotsbury Road, a main route in Weymouth, was closed for around 16 hours while police carried out investigations including a forensic examination of the scene.

Police investigations focused on two areas of the road - the area of the initial crash between Cromwell Road and Franklin Road, and the area where the car was abandoned near Alma Road.

Businesses were closed and bus services were diverted.

Forensics teams cordoned off an area near Alma Road (Image: Newsquest) Forensics van on Alma Road (Image: Newsquest)

The road is being closed at night this week for roadworks, but the closures instead continued into the day as emergency services responded.

The full closure wasn't lifted until about midday on Wednesday.

The road was closed at Longcroft Road (Image: Newsquest)

Residents of Abbotsbury Road spoke of their shock after the crash.

Geoffrey Ellis, owner of Macey's newsagents on Abbotsbury Road, said he understood there was an altercation between a group of people before the crash.

He said: "It was quite shocking to see, it did look very bad.

"We had to close this morning because the road was closed.

"We were left waiting for a delivery which could not come."

Meanwhile resident Daniel Bott said: “It does surprise me.

“There seems to be so many awful things happening in Weymouth in the last few weeks, it is quite surprising.

“It definitely worried me when I was walking back and I saw all of the police cars last night.”

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It did shock me, you don’t expect to hear it.

“It is not the kind of thing that happens on our road.

“We didn’t hear any sirens but we saw all of the lights outside our house, but it didn’t disturb us."

The road was also closed near Macey's (Image: Newsquest)

Detective Inspector Simon Austin, of Dorset County CID, said: “We are conducting a full investigation to establish the circumstances of the collision and the movements of the occupants of the vehicle involved following the incident.

“I am appealing for any witnesses, or anyone with information that might assist our enquiries, to please contact us.

“I would urge motorists with dashcam fitted who were travelling in the area around the time of the collision to please check their footage for anything of relevance.

"I would also like to make a similar plea to local residents with home CCTV or doorbell cameras to please review their footage for anything that might help our investigation.

“Finally, I would like to thank members of the public for their patience and understanding during the road closures.

"These are necessary to allow the emergency services to respond and for a full examination of the collision scene to be carried out.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55240107910.

Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.