POLICE and paramedics today blasted children who have been dicing with death in a new "bus surfing" craze.

The warning was made after three young boys on in-line skates were spotted clinging onto the bumper of a double decker bus as it travelled along Observatory Road, Blackburn.

The incident has prompted police to call on parents to remind their children about the dangers of pulling pranks on roads wearing the fashionable skates.

Police Inspector Bob Ford said: "Officers spoke to the three boys involved and their parents.

"It needs to be pointed out that this is an offence, not to mention being extremely dangerous.

"It needs nipping in the bud before somebody is seriously injured or worse." The alarm was raised at 5.15pm on Thursday by a team of paramedics from Blackburn who saw one of the boys being towed along by the Blackburn Transport vehicle on the full length of the road.

Paramedic Paul Allonby said: "These youngsters obviously do not realise how stupid they are being.

"It wouldn't take much for one of them to be killed and I certainly wouldn't want to be the one to pull a child from under a bus."

Jim Hilton, operations director for Blackburn Transport, said: "This is the first I have heard of this, but it sounds extremely dangerous as the driver will have had no idea that these children were hanging on to the back of his vehicle. The behaviour of children both on and off buses is something which never ceases to amaze me. Recently we had children vandalising the inside of a moving bus and throwing things at the driver, endangering themselves and everyone else on the road.

"This latest thing is just ludicrous and I only hope that no children will be stupid enough to try and copy it."

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