CHILDREN have a far more challenging time making their way through life today than youngsters did a few decades ago.

The temptation to experiment with drugs and alcohol are life-threatening risks that face every one of them.

Stealing cars, theft and robbery are far more common among the young than they were and vandalism is an everyday scourge.

Also in their early, primary school, years children face another threat to life and limb that has nothing to do with criminal behaviour.

It's the risk of death or serious injury that presents itself every day when they venture out as pedestrians on our roads.

Volumes of traffic have increased massively during the lifetime of their parents but standards of driving have not improved to match.

Nor in many areas have local roads been widened to cope with the increased numbers of cars, buses and lorries. It is now common to find cars parked on both sides of narrow streets leaving vehicles to fight their way along a single width central gap.

Faced with this situation the last thing most drivers are watching out for is a child trying to cross the road between parked cars.

That's why the appointment of a "child pedestrian co-ordinator" by Blackburn with Darwen Council is a welcome move in a campaign to cut by 75% the annual toll of child road deaths from 36 to nine and drastically reduce the numbers seriously injured.

Janet Campbell's position has been made possible thanks to a £90,000 government grant and she has already visited four schools in the area and looked at the road system around them so that she can point out dangers to pupils.

As well as classroom lessons on practical skills like how to cross highways she will be highlighting the risks outside on real roads.

This work is quite literally life-saving and deserves to be extended throughout East Lancashire.