Newport father's plea over A48 hit-and-run crash

John Conibeer has been treated at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport and the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff

A father has made an emotional appeal to track down a suspected hit-and-run driver who left his son in a coma.

Police believe John Conibeer, 32, was hit by the driver of a Ford Transit who then fled the scene at Pwllmeyric in Monmouthshire.

He had been a passenger in one crash and was checking the damage on that car when he was hit by the van.

Anthony Conibeer, 64, from Newport, said the "heart has been torn out" of their family .

John Conibeer was a passenger in a black Honda Civic when it crashed into a wall on the A48, near Chepstow, on Saturday.

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After being hit by the van, he remains in an induced coma and may have to undergo a skin graft at Morriston Hospital in Swansea.

Mr Conibeer said: "He's a good lad by heart and why someone has left him for dead on the side of the road, we'll never understand. John is living day by day, minute by minute."

The family hope the driver of the van will hand themselves in or someone will come forward with information so they can be identified.

Mr Conibeer said police believed a dark-coloured Transit van was involved in the hit and run because officers have recovered parts of the vehicle.

Gwent Police is continuing its investigation and a woman from Newport who was arrested in relation to the first crash has been released on bail.