A DOG owner has been left devastated after his 10-month-old puppy was fatally struck down by a “scumbag” driver who cowardly fled the scene.

Jake Banyard, 26, was walking his beloved brown cocker spaniel Wally on a field next to Mill Road, in Colchester, at about 4.15pm on Thursday.

All of a sudden the young pooch ran off and exited the area through an unlocked gate before reaching the road where he was tragically hit by a passing vehicle.

By the time Jake caught up with wounded Wally, he was lying lifeless on the ground and the driver who had struck him was nowhere to be seen.

Gazette:

“I picked him up off the floor and he was limp, but I was not 100 per cent sure if he was dead then or when we got to the vets,” added a distraught Jake.

“A very kind lady stopped on the other side of the road and put me in the back of her car with Wally and took me to the vets.

“I want to reach out to her because I didn’t get a chance to say thank you and I really cannot thank her enough. The vets tried to save him but they couldn’t do anything.”

Since the ordeal, Jake has made it his mission to track down the driver responsible so he can inform the police - and he is now appealing for help.

He said: “It was a white transit or flatbed van and I have seen CCTV footage of it happening, the driver did not even stop they just sped off – they are a scumbag.

Gazette:

“I have spoken to a few of the houses along the road and they are going to get back me but if anyone has a Ring doorbell please get in contact.

“Wally was kind, gentle, amazing with kids, cuddly and funny. He was still a pup the poor boy."

Anyone with information can call Essex Police on 101 or email Jake on Jakebanyard21@outlook.com.