A couple knocked flying and hospitalised in a hit-and-run crash have appealed for witnesses to help catch the drivers.

Chris and Caroline Rudder, of The Farthings, were walking home after dinner at Kingston’s Riverside when two speeding cars cut through the forecourt of the Shell garage in London Road.

One mounted the pavement, slamming into the pair before racing away.

Mr Rudder, 34, said: “We were on the way home. We’d been out for a quiet meal. One car came through the forecourt of the petrol station at high speed.

“Seconds later there was a thud and I went flying through the air. My wife was thrown into a brick wall.

“I can’t tell if it was a couple of seconds or a couple of minutes. I stood up and went to find my wife.”

Mrs Rudder, 36, who works for Imperial Tobacco, was due at a fracture clinic yesterday afternoon because of injuries to her foot.

City worker Mr Rudder said he was badly bruised with a swollen shoulder after the crash, which happened at about 10pm on Saturday.

At the time paramedics feared he had sustained pelvic injuries.

He added: “They took all the precautions and strapped me in.”

Ch Insp Richard Dean of Kingston police, said. “Thankfully the victims of this accident did not suffer serious injuries, but this was purely due to good fortune and the consequences could have been much worse.

“We ask you to contact police if you witnessed this incident, saw the events leading up to it, or any have information about the driver or the vehicle.”

Police said they wanted to speak to the driver of a white, new-style Vauxhall Corsa.

Anyone with information should call Kingston police on 101 and quote reference 0404063/14.