THE number of children involved in road accidents in East Lancashire has fallen slightly, according to new figures.

Figures published by Lancashire County Council's Road Safety Group reveal a 6.2 per cent reduction in the number of child pedestrians involved in accidents on the roads of Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale and the Ribble Valley.

And the news has been welcomed by the council's Road Safety Group Manager.

Neil Cunliffe said schemes such as the Right Start training scheme have help reduce the number of accidents involving one to 15-year-olds.

He said: "It is encouraging to see the number of road casualties in this age group decreasing, but we are not complacent.

"We will continue to work hard towards raising awareness of road safety issues across all road user groups.

"Interventions such as our Right Start child pedestrian training programme promotes awareness of the road environment at a young age and encourages children to become safer pedestrians."

Last year there was one fatal accident, 34 serious and 205 slight accidents on roads involving children aged one to 15, compared to two fatal, 42 serious and 213 slight accidents in 2002.

Mr Cunliffe said the group would continue to promote the initiatives in schools, organisations and to individuals across Rossendale to further reduce these figures and meet Government targets.

He said: "Through road user education, training and publicity we hope to reduce road casualties and help make Lancashire a place to travel easily and safely."

By 2010 the Government has set targets for the reduction in road casualties.

These are a 40 per cent reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured, a 50 per cent reduction in child fatalities and serious injuries and a 10 per cent reduction in the slight casualty rate.