A driver ran over a pedestrian in the middle of the night and left them for dead on a Birżebbuġa road, fleeing the scene before emergency services reached the site.

Police said they received a call at 12.45am telling them that there was a man lying in the middle of Triq Ħal Far.

They rushed to the site and found a 38-year-old man from Victoria there. He was grievously injured.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the man was walking when he was hit by a moving vehicle which then fled the scene, the police said.

The victim was taken to Mater Dei Hospital by ambulance and is receiving treatment there.

A police investigation to track down the culprit is under way.