A mother has made a heartfelt plea for the driver of a car to come forward after her son was injured in a hit-and-run accident.

Ashley Bartley was crossing Theatre Street in Dereham on his way to school on Tuesday morning when a car struck his right ankle and he fell to the ground in pain.

A friend of the 12-year-old Northgate High School pupil called the ambulance service and police, and the youngster was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for X-rays.

Ashley, who lives in Moorgate, had not suffered any broken bones but was left with bruising to his right calf and ankle.

Meanwhile, police officers are looking for the driver of the silver car who failed to stop.

Ashley's mother Natalie Day, who also has three daughters, Chloe, 11, Paige, five, and Maisie-Ann, four, said: 'I had just taken my two younger girls to school when my eldest daughter told me Ashley had been hit by a car.

'I rushed to get there and when I got to the top of the Cherry Tree car park, there was an ambulance there and Ash was inside with his leg in a splint.

'You hear of hit-and-run accidents on adults but when it's a child involved, it's a bit sick. They may not have known but they must've known they hit something and if they looked in their mirrors, they would've seen a child on the floor.

'It's out of order that they didn't have the decency to stop and that they didn't have the decency to stop as it's a child; thank goodness Ashley is okay.'

The accident happened just before 8.30am, close to the Cherry Tree pub and car park.

Ms Day, who is a full-time mum and is engaged to her partner Richard, said Ashley was 'very pale' and she expected the shock to come out over the next couple of days.

She said the accident brought back memories of when her daughter Chloe was knocked down by a car outside their house.

'When I heard he had been hit, I just felt absolutely sick,' said Ms Day. 'You would've thought if you could see a child on the floor or a lot of people around, it would be common sense to stop.'

Police have appealed for the driver of the silver car or witnesses to come forward. Anyone with information should call Dereham police on 101.