Groom hit on eve of wedding

The groom was hit as he lay unconscious in the road

A bridegroom is seriously ill in hospital after being hit by a car on the eve of his wedding as his fiancée looked on in horror.

Neil Harvey, 31, was injured on the A35 at Wilmington, east Devon, at about 0200GMT on Saturday after he slipped and fell onto the road, knocking himself unconscious.

The accident happened just nine hours before he was due to marry Verity McLean in a register office ceremony watched by 20 family members and close friends.

Rescue attempt

Mr Harvey had been drinking with his bride-to-be, his brother Stephen and his brother's fiancée in the White Hart pub in the tiny hamlet.

He was walking along a footpath by the A35 with his brother's fiancée while his bride-to-be and brother followed behind.

As he lay unconscious his brother and his fiancée tried to drag him out of the road but a car came round the bend and ran him over.

Driver questioned

The walk is only 200 yards from Mr Harvey's guest house and he was just a few yards from the front door when the accident happened.

He was taken to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital where his condition was described as "critical but stable".

His parents, Terence and Edna Harvey, had no option but to cancel the wedding.

The driver of the car, which was travelling towards Axminster, stopped and he was questioned by police at the scene.