POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a collision in which a boy was seriously injured today (Monday November 5).

The 12-year-old victim was crossing Park Road in South Moor, Stanley, County Durham, just before 8.15am when he was struck by a VW Polo car.

The injured boy, who lives in Stanley, was taken by the Great North Air Ambulance to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle suffering from a suspected fractured skull.

The Polo driver, a 20-year-old woman from Gateshead, was uninjured.

PC Kieron Goulden said the collision occurred on Park Road at its junction with Eyre Street.

The Polo was travelling south along the road when it is believed the boy emerged from a nearby shop, before running out onto the road.

Anyone with information about the collision is urged to contact PC Goulden at Stanley roads policing unit on the non-emergency number 101.