THE numbers of children injured on roads in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale has ‘significantly dropped’ this summer.

Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety has revealed there has been a 75 per cent decrease in the number of children seriously injured in road accidents over the summer holidays, compared to 2007.

The number of children that sustained slight injuries has fallen by 33 per cent, meaning there has been an overall reduction of 44 per cent.

And no fatalities were recorded for the second year running.

During the school summer holidays 2007, a total of four children were seriously injured on Pennine roads - two in Nelson, one in Colne and one in Bacup.

But this year just one child, in Colne, sustained a serious injury.

Twelve children suffered slight injuries in summer 2007 on roads in Burnley, Padiham, Nelson and Rawtenstall.

However this was reduced to eight this year with none whatsoever being recorded in Rossendale.

East Lancashire Safe Network Group, which includes a number of agencies, works to organise events, co-ordinate safety campaigns, share resources and send out child safety messages to parents and carers throughout the year.

Julie Carman, of the East Lancashire Teaching PCT, who chairs the Safe Network Group, is delighted with the figures.

She said: “The group works so well thanks to strong partnership relationships.

“We are all working towards a shared goal to reduce the amount of children killed or injured in Lancashire and by working together we are able to really make a difference.

“These road causality figures are a step in the right direction, but just one child injured on our roads is too many and we want to work towards a zero level of casualties.”