A THREE-YEAR-OLD girl was seriously injured when she was knocked down by a car outside a school in Burnley.

The youngster ran from between parked cars into the path of a reversing car outside St Peter's Primary School in Church Street.

Now motorists are being urged to take extra care around schools in the town and to stick to no parking zones.

Inspector Phil Davies said the girl had been taken to Burnley General Hospital with a broken right leg but was now recovering.

He said: “Enquiries are ongoing but clearly both the family of the girl and the driver of the car have been left devastated by what has happened.

“At this time of year, as people get used to the darker evenings, we tend to see an increase in the number of collisions involving child pedestrians.

“Many of these accidents involve children running out between parked cars near to their home or school and can be avoided.

“I urge parents to keep a close eye on young children near roads.”

Police patrols have been stepped up outside schools and neighbourhood police officers will be visiting schools to speak to both parents and children about road safety.

Canon Tom Bill, of St Peter's Church, said there should be no parking outside the school or the church, where there are double yellow lines.

He said: “The legal parking is much further down Church Street but you can't stop parents getting as close to the school as they can.

“It's something we're always very concerned about, because the safety of children is paramount.”

Danes House councillor Wajid Khan described the accident, which happened at around 3.30pm on Monday, November 1, as a ‘tragedy’ and said Burnley Council needed to look at parking provision in Church Street.

He said: “We need to ensure at all times the safety and well-being of pedestrians.

“When you’ve got so many cars parked there at school time and children running out into the road it’s going to be difficult, and accidents such as this will occur.”