Police are appealing for a car driver to come forward following a road crash which left a motorcyclist with serious chest injuries.

A blue Yamaha XT motorbike was in collision with a silver Renault Kangoo in Epping High Street at about 8am this morning.

A police spokesman said the motorcyclist – a 53-year-old man, from Epping – was thrown into the road and hit by a green Ford Mondeo car which was travelling in the opposite direction.

The drivers of the Renault and Mondeo were injured however a 13-year-old girl, from Waltham Abbey – who was a back seat passenger in the Mondeo – suffered minor neck injuries and was treated at the scene by paramedics.

The motorcyclist was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital, in Harlow, having sustained serious chest injuries. He was later transferred to Basildon University Hospital where he was in a stable condition.

Investigating officer PC Glenn Simons said: “There was a silver Ford Ka parked in road at the time of crash. This motorist drove off and we think witnessed the collision. We are studying CCTV to see if the crash was caught on camera and this would help us piece together the events that led up to the incident.”

A section of road was closed for three hours as police investigated the incident and cleared the debris.

The Ford Ka driver and any witnesses to the collision should ring the Chigwell road policing unit on 01279 621804.