THE MOTHER of a young boy who was nearly killed in a road accident is calling for traffic safety measures to be introduced on the stretch where he was hit by a bus.

Alex Tolley, nine, has just been allowed home from hospital after being knocked down outside his home in Manchester Road, Accrington, on March 4. He was returning home from an afternoon playing in Oak Hill Park with older sister Danielle.

Although there is no suggestion the bus was speeding, Alex's mother Patricia Maxwell said Manchester Road is very dangerous for pedestrians.

She said: "We get cars coming down at speed, probably because of its slope. There isn't a crossing from here to Baxenden and it's difficult for people toget to the park over the road.

"We need a pelican crossing so nothing like this happens again."

She said Alex couldn't remember being hit, although he does recall checking for traffic as he ran out into the road. The driver of the bus gave Alex mouth to mouth resuscitation until paramedics arrived. He was rushed to Blackburn Royal Infirmary and later transferred to intensive care at Pendlebury Children's Hospital where he stayed for six days before being moved to the hospital's neural ward.

The accident prompted calls for traffic safety measures. Lancashire County Council, the highways authority, said the accident statistics in Manchester Road were "sufficient" to warrant a traffic-calming scheme and highways officers were planning to introduce measures this summer.

Patricia, 48, said Alex fractured his skull in a number of places and suffered a bruised brain and lungs.

She said: "All I could think about was how close he came to dying. We are so lucky he is still alive." And she said Alex was making a slow but steady recovery: "We don't know if any permanent damage has been done, but his short term memory is not as good as it was, even though it is getting better every day. He's not as quick as he was with his school work. And if he's tired his right side gets a bit weak."

Patricia said her son would be spending the rest of the school year at Easdon Clough Special School in Burnley where he will receive personal tuition until he is back up to speed, with the hope he can return to Peel Park primary school, Accrington, in September.

She said: "He did some tests last week and although he didn't get anything wrong he didn't have any speed with the answers."

She said the entire family had rallied around during this difficult time, with elder son Michael, 30, coming back from Dartford, and eldest daughter Kelly, 23, helping out at home.

Post office worker Patricia said her and Alex's dad carpet fitter Graeme Tolley, 47, had no plans to take the family away over Easter as they get over the shock of the accident, adding that it will be some time before she can let Alex play on his own.

She said: "If we go out now all I want to do is keep a grip on him."