A police officer investigating a horrific hit and run in which a teenager was sent flying across the road, said footage of the incident made the 'hairs on his arms stand on end' as he could not believe what he was seeing.

Superintendent Adrian Gascoyne, from Derbyshire police, said he did not think the incident, in which a car struck a 19-year-old in Normanton Road, Derby, so hard it sent him flying across the road was "targeted". However, he believes it is possible members of the public know who the driver of the car is.

The victim is now in a wheelchair and unable to walk after the crash, which happened at about 7.30pm on bonfire night, November 5, last yea. Superintendent Gascoyne said it was down to "pure luck and expert medical attention that has led to the teenager still being alive".

He said: "We are treating this as a collision in which the driver has not stopped, we are not aware of anything more than that. We need to find the driver and the car and that is why we have taken the step to get the support of the community.

"I have been a police officer for 28 years and my reaction to viewing the footage was the hairs on my arms stood up. I could not believe what I saw. I could not believe the pedestrian is still alive. My reaction was complete horror. I could not believe we were not dealing with a fatal crash."

The 19-year-old man circled is now confined to a wheelchair

He said the priority for the investigation team was finding the car and the driver. He added: "That car could still be being driven around today. If somebody is capable of driving like that and not stopping then they are posing a risk.

"We have not yet located the vehicle and the driver. We are keen to locate anybody else who was in the car at the time and any witnesses who saw the crash or the aftermath.

"The car would have suffered significant damage."

He said the force was in "regular contact" with the victim. He added: "We are supporting him as best we can. We want to find the driver to get closure for the victim.

"My message to the public is, if that was a member of your family who had been involved in that crash, then you would expect them to be severely traumatised by this.

"This was a built up area at 7.30 in the evening. It is a matter of pure luck that nobody else was injured in the incident.

"Most people would have stopped. What would motivate somebody for not stopping? For someone to drive away is not normal behaviour. Sometimes a reason for people not stopping is panic, but that is still not acceptable."

He has now issued a direct appeal for help from the public, saying they should not be fearful of coming forward with information.

He added: "It is a possibility that there are people in the community who will know or will suspect who was driving that car. In that case, we understand they might be nervous, but the bigger picture is a member of the public has been significantly harmed. We don't want the same to happen.

"Please come forward and help the investigation."

Police would also like to talk to anybody who has a dark, possibly grey Audi A3, which had a bumper, bonnet and windscreen damage around November 5.

Anybody with any information is asked to call the force collision investigation unit on 101 and quote reference 17000480371.

Independent charity Crimestoppers can also be called, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.