A MAN is in hospital today after suffering head injuries in a hit and run in Ipswich.

Police officers are today investigating an alleged hit and run crash which left a young man in hospital with head injuries.

It is believed five men had been involved in a brawl moments before yesterday’s collision on the Chantry Estate.

Suffolk police said they were called to Hawthorn Drive, between the junction with Birkfield Drive and the Mallard Way roundabout, at 3.30pm.

A spokesman said they had received reports that a fight had broken out between five men, in their 20s, and that one of those involved had been knocked down by a car.

He confirmed the incident was being treated as a hit and run because the driver had left the scene.

“Officers are investigating the circumstances surrounding a roadside altercation in which a man was struck by a car,” he said.

“Officers found a man from the town with head injuries at the scene.”

They are now hunting a silver hatchback.

A spokeswoman for the East of England Ambulance Service said the male casualty was taken to Ipswich Hospital.

“His condition is not thought to be life threatening. He is stable,” she said.

Eyewitness Barbara Worrall, who watched the drama unfold outside her house, said she saw the man lying on a grass verge.

The man, who Mrs Worrall thought was around 16, was bleeding from his head.

“I noticed a young man run up the bank and slump down at the edge of the road,” she said.

“He was bleeding from his head, I thought he must have been in a fight.”

Anyone who saw what happened, or saw suspicious behaviour in the area involving a silver hatchback, should contact Suffolk police on 01473 613500.

Did you see what happened? Call the newsdesk on 01473 324788 or e-mail starnews@eveningstar.co.uk.