A young boy walking home from school suffered a broken nose when a car wing mirror hit him in the face in Leedstown. Police are now hunting for the driver of the car, who failed to stop.

Five-year-old Ricardo Barrow was beside his older sister and holding his mother's hand as he walked along the pavement, opposite Leedstown post office and shop in Chapel Road, when the incident occurred at around 3.30pm last Thursday.

The driver of a light blue Fiat Cinquecento allegedly mounted the pavement and Ricardo was smacked in the face by the wing mirror of the car, although his sister Stevie, aged seven, and mother Maxine Sheffield were uninjured.

Two members of the public who witnessed the incident began chasing the car, which had failed to stop, but it drove off in the direction of Hayle.

Another mother from the school, who had also seen what had happened, took Ricardo to the West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance for a check-up, where he was found to be in shock and suffering from a broken nose.

His mother has now called for changes to be made to the road, fearing that someone could be killed next time.

Ms Sheffield said: "He's very, very lucky. It's scary to think about what might have happened. It could have been a fatality. Something does need to be done, to either ease the traffic or make sure when there's oncoming traffic and pedestrians then drivers just give way."

She added: "If there's anybody that knows these people then phone the police, because it could be their child next or a fatality."

However, she criticised the police for pushing her "from pillar to post," adding that she was "appalled" that an officer had not yet contacted her about the incident or taken a statement.

Ricardo is a pupil in the reception class at Leedstown Primary School. Stuart Hood, head teacher at the school, said that following the incident staff had spoken to pupils about road safety. Mr Hood told the Packet: "We have been working with the children on safety and safe routes. It's very worrying, especially when you have got a child as young and as little as Ricardo. There's a lot of heavy traffic that goes through the village. We have stressed how dangerous we think it is."

He added that staff at the school were "absolutely gob-smacked" to hear about the incident.

Police are now urging the driver of the car to contact them. PC Baxter Provan, police spokesman, said: "We want the person to come forward. A wing mirror striking a young lad's face like that must have made a bit of a clumping noise. Maybe they didn't realise the wing mirror had struck a young person. We need them to come forward."

Anyone who may have information about the incident can contact Helston police station on 08452 777444, quoting police log number 1154/26/04/07.