A FURIOUS father has hit out at the heartless motorist who left his seven-year-old daughter for dead.

Jade Bailey suffered a broken leg, cuts and bruises when she was struck by a white van.

Witnesses said the van, which was towing a generator, stopped briefly after the incident but then continued without the driver bothering to check on Jade, who was unconscious.

The-hit and-run driver is now being hunted by police.

Jade was playing in Kingswood Road, Gillingham, with her brothers and sisters at about 8pm on Friday when the van knocked her down.

Her father Lee said: "Jade is really shaken up. When someone got to her she was unconscious and we feared the worst.

"She was taken to hospital where they said she had broken her leg and suffered many cuts and bruises.

"It’s absolutely appalling because that driver didn’t care how seriously she had been hurt. He could have killed her and would have still sped off."

The family moved here from Middlesbrough three weeks ago and heaped praise on the neighbours for their swift help.

Mr Bailey said: “The neighbours were great. They’ve been very supportive and were very concerned for Jade. Since we moved here we’ve noticed people do speed on this road, particularly the younger drivers."

Since the hit and run the family has gathered a petition of nearly 100 names calling for something to be done on their road about speeding drivers, which they plan to give to Medway Council on Monday.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact police on 01634 884002 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.