A MAN who was badly hurt at the same spot on a major road where a child was injured at the weekend says a pedestrian crossing should be installed before someone else is injured or killed.

Richard Brocklehurst, aged 73, spent a week in hospital after breaking his arm in a accident with a car six years ago as he tried to cross the busy dual carriageway Crompton Way.

Two years ago, Francis Gallagher, a Green Way neighbour of Mr Brocklehurst, was killed as he tried to cross the road.

And on Sunday, nine-year-old Vicky Launders, of Padbury Way, Breightmet, was badly injured in an accident.

At an inquest into 78-year-old Mr Gallagher's death, police stated that there had been several other deaths on the same stretch of road and urged Bolton Council to install a pedestrian crossing on the 40mph road near the junction with Green Way. Mr Brocklehurst said: "I don't walk up Crompton Way at all now. Once bitten, twice shy.

"The time will come when someone else is killed if a crossing is not put in."

At the inquest into Mr Gallagher's death, deputy coroner Simon Nelson recorded a verdict of misadventure and expressed concern about the road.

Campaigner Arthur Sandiford, of Hadleigh Close, Astley Bridge, has kept newspaper cuttings highlighting people's concerns about the road since the 1960s.

He said: "I am frustrated nothing has been done. The council doesn't seem to understand the score at all. It will put speed bumps on Hall i'th' Wood estate itself but not deal with the main problem on Crompton Way."

Local councillor Alan Wilkinson is asking highways bosses to improve safety on Crompton Way. He said: "It is very upsetting when someone, especially a child or pensioner, is injured in a road accident."

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: "We are working with the police accident investigation team to see what we can do."