A driver who knocked down an 11-year-old boy left the youngster dazed and concussed in a nearby street after promising the child's friends that he was taking him to hospital.

Martin Thompson suffered a fractured forehead, cuts and bruises and was left staggering in the street where he was found by neighbours and rushed to hospital.

The boy's mother, Linda, today told of her disgust and anger at the motorist who jeopardised her son's life.

Martin ran out into the road near his home to fetch a ball when he was struck by a white four-door saloon on Sunday evening.

His anxious mother rushed to a nearby hospital when she heard about the accident but Martin was nowhere to be found.

Mrs Thompson, 38, of Northbourne Street, Elswick, Newcastle, spent an anxious 20 minutes desperately searching for her son before she was told that he had been found by neighbours.

She said: "I was so shocked, I was just so frightened for what was happening.

"At the hospital they were phoning all over the place seeing if anyone had picked up a little boy with blond hair.

"I was really shaken up and very annoyed as well - they shouldn't have even picked him up.

"I am just so pleased that he is here. At the time everything was just going through my mind, I was at the hospital for 20 minutes but it seemed like forever."

Martin was kept overnight for observation at Newcastle General Hospital and has since been recovering at home with his mother, 18-year-old brother, Terry, and 16-year-old sister Carol.

The Westgate Community College pupil today said: "I am shocked and scared to go down the bottom of the road now. It is too risky and it could happen to anybody.

"My head is starting to heal up a bit now and it feels better."

Northumbria Police are trying to track down the driver of the car which could possibly be a Hyundai Accent, registration number M683 RVN which was carrying another male passenger at the time.

A Northumbria Police spokeswoman today said: "The driver stopped the car, picked up the injured boy and put him on the back seat of the car.

"He told young friends of the injured boy that he would take the boy to hospital but in fact he dropped the boy off a short time later and left him to make his own way home.

"This little boy was injured and distressed as a result of this collision and it is very fortunate that he managed to find his own way home and get help."

Martin regularly gives up his time to run errands for pensioners in the area.

Shopkeeper Baljit Singh, 26, said: "He is always running errands for old people and his mother. For old people that live in the street, he fetches their papers, milk and other things."

He added that the occupants of the car had "just dumped him on the side of the road".

"It is terrible. They shouldn't have left him there when they are supposed to be taking him to hospital."