AN eyewitness who tried in vain to resuscitate seven-year-old hit-and-run victim Olivia Whitehouse today spoke out about the horrific scene he watched unfold.

Carl Hartley, of Billinge Road, saw the accident and carried out emergency first aid on the little girl until the emergency services arrived.

He said: "I saw the accident from the bedroom window, a Range Rover was zooming up the street, she flew through the air and landed on to the pavement. She was bleeding extensively.

"I had to move her because she was struggling to breathe, she landed face down on her side. I tried to revive her.

"I managed to revive her twice but she remained unconscious. She must have lost six pints of blood, she was white.

"I saw that the driver was Asian, he hit her, carried on driving to the bottom of the street, stopped, then drove off."

Mr Hartley's wife Lisa said: "She was a lovely girl, always smiling. She was the perfect daughter, she had blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair with freckles."

Mr Hartley added: "Only recently I was saying that it's an accident waiting to happen. The M65 is slower. There's nowhere for children to play. I won't let my stepchildren play on the street now.

"I can't open the curtains because I keep seeing the accident again and again."

Neighbour Susan Bellusci, of Newton Street, said: "My granddaughter was Olivia's best friend. They always played together. She was a lovely girl, a typical seven year-old but she was really lovely. I don't know how they're going to tell my granddaughter."

A resident, who asked not to be named, added: "It was an accident waiting to happen, cars are always speeding up and down here."

A worker at the Drive Thru and Hand Wash centre in Newton Street, said: "It is as bad as it gets. I hope they catch whoever did it."