Hit and run witness has not been interviewed by police in two weeks

Hospital porter John Hopkins, 59, was on his way to meet his girlfriend when he saw Andy Payne, 53, flung into the air by the white Fiat.

Mr Hopkins can be seen on the shocking CCTV footage released by Sussex Police after Mr Payne was flung violently into the air by a Fiat 500 which smashed into him as he crossed Montague Place, in Kemp Town on January 14.

Mr Hopkins, of nearby Turton Close, can be seen on the video as he calls 999, but said he was surprised not to have been contacted by police.

When the CCTV footage of the incident emerged on Tuesday, Mr Hopkins again contacted the police but said no officer had spoken to him when he spoke to The Argus yesterday.

Sussex Police said the CCTV footage had been viewed more than 3 million times - and thanked the hundreds of people who got in touch as a result of watching it - but the force appears to have made no effort to speak to Mr Hopkins.

John Hopkins witnessed the hit-and-run of Andy Payne in Brighton. Picture: Simon Dack John Hopkins witnessed the hit-and-run of Andy Payne in Brighton.  Picture: Simon Dack

He said: "I was just going down the road to meet my girlfriend in St James's Street.

"I just came round corner and saw him fly through the air and hit his head on the Transit then hit his head on the road.

"If I had been crossing the road a couple of seconds earlier I could also have been hit.

"I saw the car shoot off up the road but I didn't think about anything much other than trying to get help for the gentleman.

"I was the person on the corner of the road. You can see me in the video and I called 999.

"I was talking to the paramedics about this gentleman. He was in the road and I was checking he was okay.

"When the paramedics arrived I asked them if they needed me to wait and speak to the police.

"But they said they had my details and would contact me and to leave it at that.

"I've felt terrible for weeks.

"I kept saying to my girlfriend 'should I go down to the police station?'.

"But they had my details and I was sure they would have contacted me .

"It took them almost two weeks to release that video.

"My main concern was this gentleman was going to be alright. The paramedics told me that if I hadn't got to him straight away he could have died."

Mr Payne's wife Lisa, 53, yesterday said from their family home that he was recovering from the crash. She said: "He's getting better slowly. He's not too bad."

Sergeant Dan Pitcher said: "Police have been actively working through intelligence related to the car and the appeal was launched to help support our findings.

"People at the scene of the collision were spoken to by officers and the investigation team is prioritising witness accounts as the investigation continues."

A 31-year-old man was released on bail last night having been arrested on suspicion of driving a vehicle dangerously, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, failing to stop at the scene of a road accident, driving without a licence or insurance and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

A 56-year-old woman, arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice, has also been bailed until April 3.

Witnesses are asked to contact Sussex Police via  email collision.appeal@sussex.pnn.police.uk or call 101 quoting Operation Northdown.