POLICE teams were yesterday frantically searching for the family of a schoolboy who was seriously injured in a road accident.

As the boy lay unconscious in a hospital bed, officers spent the whole day speaking to hundreds of people in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, in a bid to identify the youngster.

The boy, believed to be about ten years old, was knocked off his bike as he cycled through the town yesterday morning.

He was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital suffering from head injuries and was later moved to Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary, where his condition last night was critical.

The boy was riding along Burn Lane on a yellow and black Magna Threat mountain bike at about 10.30am when he collided with a car at the junction with Cobblers Hall Road.

The nearby Tesco supermarket used a public address system to appeal for help to contact any friends or family who had missed the boy.

The boy is white, 4ft 8in to 5ft, with blond spiky hair. He was wearing a white England shirt with the name Beckham and number seven on the back, blue Ellesse jogging bottoms and blue Reebok trainers.

Anyone with information is asked to call police urgently on (01325) 314401.