A VAN driver was today lucky to be alive after a missile crashed through his windscreen as he travelled along the M65.

The driver was today praised by police who said he managed to advert a disaster after a "mindless" youth threw the object at his van.

And officers were today hunting the teenager, who they believe hit the Ford Transit van with an item he'd thrown from the footbridge near Burnley.

The terrified driver, who was from Liverpool, managed to pull over on the hard shoulder without crashing into other vehicles.

Sergeant Bev Saycell from the motorway policing unit, said: "The driver was really lucky. He escaped without injury but was very shocked and upset.

"We would appeal for any witnesses who were using the carriageway at 11:50 am on Thursday to contact the police as this could have easily been a much more serious incident.

"The person responsible is a white male, aged between 14 and 18, with short black hair.

"He has a slim build and was wearing a black top with a white stripe down the sleeves and black pants."

The incident occurred as the Lancashire Evening Telegraph reported the high number of incidents involving children on local motorways. Over the school summer holidays last year police were called to 127 incidents where the lives of children and passing motorists were put at risk.

Just a week ago motorway officers caught another male youth walking down the hard shoulder in the dark dressed completely in black. When approached close to junction 13 - the Colne exit - he said he was taking a short cut home that he always uses.

Police today again appealed for parents to educate their children on the danger of playing on the motorway and to ensure they are playing in safe areas away from any type of roads.

Sgt Saycell said: "The motorway is a dangerous place - children shouldn't be anywhere near it."

Last year a van driver was killed on the M3 near Southampton when a youth threw an object from a footbridge onto the traffic below.