PARENTS are demanding action to improve road safety after two 11-year-old boys narrowly escaped death in a collision with a pick-up truck in Kidderminster.

The two youngsters were playing on a bike in Woodbury Road when they were involved in the collision with a Ford Transit vehicle, which reportedly mounted the pavement and crashed into a brick wall, knocking the two children over the top of it.

Daniel Buckley was treated for a broken leg and bruised face while his friend, Curtis Evans, suffered a fractured ankle and bruises and cuts.

Dave Buckley, father of Daniel, is calling for Worcestershire County Council to install road humps or other traffic calming measures on the road.

He has also added his signature to a petition of more than 175 names calling for immediate action to improve safety along Woodbury Road.

Along with many other parents, he is due to attend a Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meeting tonight to bring the issue to the attention of police and community leaders.

Mr Buckley, 49, a former plastics technician, said: “The boys are lucky to be alive. If it had not been for the wall they would be dead. It was only the wall that saved them.”

He added: “Nobody died in this accident but next time it could be different. What are they waiting for? Does someone have to die before this is sorted out?

“I am very angry about what has happened. Anyone would be if it was their son. It should not have happened.

“Daniel wakes up screaming in the night from pain. He is OK in himself but he is in a lot of pain.”

Conservative, Derek Prodger, the county council's cabinet member for transport and safe environment, said: "We take any incident on our roads and highways extremely seriously and are committed to ensuring they are safe for all road users.

“We are currently working to improve safety around the county and I am always happy to take views and representations from members of the public and will, along with my highways officers, investigate fully if there is anything we can do to make improvements."

A police spokeswoman said two males, both 19, had been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving in connection with the incident, which took place on Wednesday last week at about 7.10pm.

She added they had been released on bail pending further enquiries and were due to answer their bail in November.

PC Mandy Baldwin, local policing officer for Oldington and Foley Park said: “We want to reassure residents that this is a matter we take extremely seriously and we would urge anyone with concerns to come along to the PACT meeting this evening to discuss this with us.”

The PACT meeting will start at 6.30pm at Birchen Coppice Primary School in Woodbury Road.