A 20-year-old police officer was left bleeding and unconscious in the road after being deliberately hit by a car.

The off-duty officer had tried to intervene after the driver previously ran into two other people in Middlesbrough.

The officer, who has been in the force for less than a year, was in James Cook University Hospital today awaiting surgery on his broken knee.

A dispute between the motorist and two other people took place close to Jumping Jacks in Corporation Road. The driver of the silver Vauxhall Astra knocked them down but neither pedestrian had any injuries.

The silver Astra, which had a broken wing mirror, sped off westwards towards the A66. Police conducted an extensive search but the car had not been located yesterday. CCTV footage was being inspected today.

Inspector Steve Broughton said: "This could quite easily have been a much more serious incident. The PC suffered a nasty injury but it could have been more serious than that."

Anyone with any information is asked to call (01642) 303126.