Driver smashed into learner and sppeds off

And, after her Christmas was badly spoiled by the incident, her civil servant father, Bernhard, is appealing to the public to help catch the driver before he destroys someone else's confidence.

He said: "It's unbelievable for someone to do that in the first place, but to then not stop is unforgivable."

Sarah, who has a brother, Connor, 13, and sister, Kelly, 11, was driving with an instructor towards Sunbury from Charlton Village and approaching the mini roundabout just before Spelthorne Lane and Ashford Road when she noticed a driver in a Vauxhall - the model of which witnesses described as a Vectra - speeding up behind her.

Halfway round the roundabout, the driver attempted to overtake her and slammed into the driver's door, shunting the car onto the pavement. The assailant then sped off.

"According to the instructor, the driver must have tried to overtake her on the wrong side of the roundabout," said Bernhard.

"The damage to the car has been considerable and it could be a write-off, but Sarah-Jane has been left badly shaken by what happened and is seriously weary about getting in a car again.

"It was a pretty awful way to start Christmas and she was very subdued on Christmas Day and cried a lot. We were regularly checking her to see if she had whiplash but fortunately she was not badly hurt and, although she has had a few headaches, it could have been a lot worse."