A MOTHER drove her car at her own son in a prank staged for a Jackass- style stunt website.

But Beverley Clare, of Darwen defended herself saying she was only going at 5mph and her son was not hurt.

And the mother of Anchor Avenue said she is ready to present police with video footage of the stunt which shows she was driving slowly when she hit Michael, 15.

Her confession comes just days after Michael watched as his close friend Joe Armstrong suffered life-threatening burns while jumping over a fire as his friends filmed.

A police investigation is now studying images from the website to see if any criminal offences have been committed.

Mrs Clare said: "I was going about five miles an hour and he jumped on the bonnet. People probably think I have done about 30 miles an hour and I ran him over, but it's a camera trick. Michael is good with the camera, with editing and with special effects."

Beverley and burns victim Joe's mum, Allyson, have now become firm friends, despite Michael being the brains behind the website, called Live Now Die Later.

Allyson has said she does not blame Michael, and has called for Jackass - the TV show which inspired the website - to be banned from television.

The image of teenage Michael being hit by his mum's car was on the site and Mrs Clare said she can simply prove she was doing five miles an hour by showing police the original video footage.

She said: "There is the evidence. That is how fast I was going. The police will be able to tell if it has been speeded up or slowed down. They have got enough technology to see if I was going 30miles an hour or five."

Police have revealed they are working with social services to investigate the copycat stunts.

Acting Detective Superintendent Neil Smith said: "We are aware of this incident and it is forming part of our inquiries. The investigation will look at all the sites and all the incidents published in the papers to see if any offence has been committed.

"There are also welfare and child protection issues in respect of some of the children involved. We are doing a joint investigation with social services over some of these issues, because they're young people involved in dangerous activities."

Jackass Week

Monday: The Lancashire Evening Telegraph shows exclusive images of 10-year-old Joe Armstrong, of Tunnel Street in Darwen, suffering severe burns jumping over a fire as his friends watch with a video camera.

Tuesday: MPs and media watchdogs call for television stunt show Jackass to be banned as Joe languishes in Booth Hall children's hospital, Manchester, awaiting skin grafts.

Wednesday: Joe Armstrong undergoes further surgery on the 15 per cent burns to his body. His family wait to see if skin grafts are successful.

Thursday: Police begin looking at the incident to see if a criminal offence has been committed, and TV regulator Ofcom revealed it would look at the case of Joe Armstrong when drawing up guidelines.

Friday: Police launch an assault investigation after the mother of a boy shown on a website sees her son's forehead being punctured by nails on the front page of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. She tells police she was previously unaware of the stunt.

Saturday: Beverley Clare, mother of Michael Davies, who set up the controversial stunt website, admits it was her behind the wheel of a car shown running down her son on the Internet.