Concern over child accident rate

Almost a third of all accidents which seriously injure children on Cumbria's roads, happen in Barrow.

The figures have been released as part of a police campaign to cut the number of casualties.

The Casualty Reduction and Safer Highways Initiative - or CRASH - was set up by Cumbria Police earlier this year.

It aims to reduce the number of road traffic collisions in the south of the county.

Holiday risk

Last year, 10 child pedestrians, aged up to 16, were seriously injured in Barrow, compared to the total of 32 seriously injured on all the county's roads in 2002.

Since 1998, 36 have been seriously injured and 87 were slightly injured on Barrow's roads.

The figure gives the area the highest casualty rate in Cumbria.

Carlisle is not far behind, with 20 seriously injured children and 92 slightly.

The research also found that many of the accidents happened in school holidays.

Traffic management officer for south Cumbria, Roger Mallet, said the figures serve as a reminder to parents to make sure children are playing safely during the summer.