A DISTRAUGHT mother has pleaded with the hit-and-run driver who left her son dying in the road to come forward and end her torment.

Jenny Metcalfe was speaking after an inquest into the death of her son Shaun, who died after being hit by a car outside the Hare and Hounds, Blackburn Road, Oswaldtwistle.

Despite a massive police hunt, the driver of the car, believed to be a taxi or pizza delivery vehicle, has never been traced.

The car, belived to be red, was travelling from Blackburn when it struck Shaun, 34, at 3am on January 18. The driver stopped briefly 40 yards further up the road before driving off.

Police carried out forensic tests on Shaun's clothes in a bid to trace the car and stopped more than 60 vehicles in a road block a week after the accident.

"I just wish they would give themselves up," said Mrs Metcalfe, 51, who lived with her son in Ruskin Avenue, Oswaldtwistle.

"They don't know what I am going through.

"Somebody, somewhere knows something, they have got to. I just wish they would come forward and tell the police."

Her appeal was backed by coroner Michael Singleton who called for the driver or anyone who knew the person responsible to come forward.

"I am sure it would afford some considerable comfort to Mrs Metcalfe if she could better understand what happened on that night," he said.

He recorded a verdict of accidental death after hearing there was only one witness to the incident and extensive police inquiries had failed to find either the car or the driver.

Mr Singleton said he could not be certain on the evidence available that it amounted to unlawful killing.

He added: "It may be that further evidence ultimately comes to light with regard to the state of the driver and the vehicle."

Shaun worked at the Hare and Hounds pub every Saturday from 4pm until 8pm and as a wood-sprayer at Baron Mercers, in William Street, Accrington.

He also lived with his brother Mark, 35 and had a sister Christine, 28, and eight nephews and nieces.

The inquest heard that he was leaving the pub with his friend, Michael Ashby.

Mr Ashby, 35, was in tears as he relived the last minutes of his friend's life.

He said that as they left the pub and crossed Blackburn Road, Mr Ashby became aware of a car coming from the Blackburn direction and veering across the road.

"I remember shouting to Shaun to run because I thought the car was going to hit us," said Mr Ashby, of Harvey Street, Oswaldtwistle.

"The next thing I saw was the car coming over Shaun."

Mr Ashby said that despite the car passing within two or three yards of him, he was unable to identify it.

Police accident investigator Timothy Hogan said the impact had occurred close to the centre of the road and Shaun had been lying on the ground. A post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death as multiple injuries and Mr Metcalfe had a blood alcohol level just over three and a half times the legal drink driving limit.