A TEENAGER thought to have been enjoying a night out in Poole suffered multiple skull fractures after a collision with a car in the town centre.

The 19-year-old was hit on the pedestrian crossing at the New Orchard/High Street junction, close to the Peri Ice Cream Parlour, just before 4.30am on Saturday September 22.

Paramedics administered on-the-spot treatment before rushing him to accident and emergency at Poole Hospital.

They also treated the driver - a Wareham man believed to be in his late teens or early 20s - for shock.

The parents of the injured Poole teenager were informed shortly afterwards and they rushed to be at their son's bedside.

Emergency doctors decided to transfer him to the neurological unit at Southampton Hospital where he is in a critical but stable condition.

Officers sealed off the area so crash investigators could establish what happened in the moments leading up to the accident.

The roads around Old Orchard and New Orchard re-opened at lunchtime.

As the town centre started to fill-up with Saturday shoppers, many of them were shocked to hear what had happened earlier.

Jenny Pearl, of Canford Heath, said: "We were moaning a bit because the traffic was a little heavier getting down to the waterfront this morning. But we feel a bit sick now, knowing a young lad is probably fighting for his life in hospital.

"I guess the police had to cordon everything off so they can work out what happened.

"I hope the lad makes a full recovery. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for him."

Police have appealed to anyone who saw the collision or the red Peugeot 206 in the moments before the accident.

Call 01202 222222.