THE mum of a 10-year-old boy seriously injured by an off-road bike rider who fled the scene of the incident, has called on the rider to own up and hand themselves in to the police.

The emotive plea comes from Christine Palmer, whose son Romeo was rushed to Basildon Hospital after being injured.

He has had surgery overnight.

Police issued a plea for witnesses to the incident on a play area near Aluric Close yesterday (Thursday, 27 July).

Today Christine said: "I am calling out to our community, please I beg of you, to come forward if you witnessed the person on the bike who ran over my son yesterday.

"My son is ten years old, small frame, fragile, who has endured injuries you would not like a small child to endure.

"He has had major surgery in the early hours of this morning, the first of possibly many, and has suffered immense pain and has a long road of recovery ahead of him.

"He is very lucky and our hearts hurt for him and this ordeal he has been put through.

"Justice needs to be served on the person that has done this, run over a child. He did not stop or look back over what he had done.

"The person that was with him, please come forward. You both left my son on the floor, helpless.

"If this person is reading this then please come forward, you know what you have done is wrong.

"You know who you are. Your family and friends know who you are. Man up and own up to the trauma you have caused onto an innocent child. A child that was playing innocently and is now suffering through no fault of his own.

"I urge your family and friends if they have any heart to encourage you to face up to this and hand yourself in."

A statement from police yesterday said: "We'd ask anyone who was in the area and saw what happened to contact us.

"We'd also ask anyone who was in the area and may have dashcam footage that may have captured something that will help our investigation to check their footage.

"If you know the rider or owner of the vehicle involved, please call us urgently.

"If you have any information, CCTV, dash cam or other footage in relation to this incident, then please get in contact with us.

"You can let us know by submitting a report on our website or by using our online Live Chat service available Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) between 10am-9pm.

"Visit www.essex.police.uk/digital101 to find out more about our website reporting services.

"Alternatively, you can call us on 101. If you would like to make an anonymous report, you can contact independent charity on Twitter at @CrimestoppersUK, by visiting their website or by calling 0800 555 111.

"Please quote incident 794 of 27 July when providing any information to make sure it gets to the right person as quickly as possible."