A SHOPKEEPER who was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver on a notorious Accrington rat-run has pleaded for drivers to stop using the road.

Florist Andrew Barrett confronted a driver using the road in front of the Town Hall -- which is officially only open to buses.

But he says that while he was standing in front of the car taking its details to give to the police around 4.30pm on Saturday, the driver accelerated into him.

He was catapulted on to the car's bonnet, then on to the floor. He was left with head injuries needing stitches, bruises down one side of his body, a sprained ankle and stiffness in his neck and back.

Today, the 41-year-old, who owns Andy's Florist on Dutton Street, said the accident could have been much worse.

He said: "I was standing in front of him to make sure he didn't clear off. The police were called but it's one of those cars that hasn't been registered to anybody for a couple of years, so they don't know who the driver is."

Andrew had been moving flowers from his market stall to his shop with his father, across the pedestrianised road. The car was forced to stop as the pair moved a flower trolley.

Andrew was in front of the car storing the registration number on his mobile phone, when the driver sped off -- smashing straight into him.

Now the trader is calling on drivers to obey the signs, before someone is killed.

He said: "It's dangerous. It's supposed to be for pedestrians. You see the same cars coming through week after week. It's a bit of a rat-run. They don't just drive through slowly, they come through pretty quickly.

"It could have been a lot worse, I was lucky. If it had been someone a bit older it could have been fatal."

PC Dave Dunn, spearheading a police drive to stop drivers until a solution is found by the county council, said: "This does highlight the dangers.

"We are doing our utmost to deploy patrols at that site and send officers there, and we are still looking at an engineering solution - possibly traffic lights - being put in place.

"It's just a pity this chap has been trying to do his bit and unfortunately has been in front of the car when it came towards him.

"I am sure the matter will be thoroughly investigated."