POLICE are today hunting for the occupants of a BMW coupe who fled the scene of a crash after colliding with six parked cars on a major road in Southampton.

The accident happened at 5.02am today in Portswood Road near to The Jackpot caf.

Traffic police cordoned off the road in both directions between the junction with Grosvenor Road and the junction with Thomas Lewis Way, just past Arnold Road.

A police search was launched this morning of the local area to find the occupants of the blue BMW. It is not known how many people were in the car.

Officers also carried out a thorough search of the crash scene after a member of the public who phoned 999 reported seeing somebody lying unconscious in the road.

However, police and paramedics from South Central Ambulance Service found no casualties when they arrived at the scene.

The parked cars, including three Vauxhall Astras, a Fiat Punto, Ford Ka a Ford Escort, were all empty at the time of accident in which they were all very badly damaged.

Traffic police were hoping to reopen the road by lunchtime once they had cleared all of the damaged cars and carried out a forensic examination of the scene.

Throughout this morning there were lengthy tailbacks in the Portswood area as traffic became gridlocked during the rush hour.

Parents dropping off children at the nearby Portswood Primary School also experienced long delays.

A police spokeman said: "We would urge anyone who saw the incident this morning or knows anything about it to help with the police investigation."

Anyone with any information about the accident should contact the investigation team that is being led by Inspector Roger Price at Totton Roads Policing Unit on 0845 045 4545.