THE mother of a teenager killed in the French Alps coach crash four years ago is still battling to come to terms with the tragedy.

Carole Ridding has been reliving the afternoon of her son Keith's death after the accident, once again, hit the headlines this week.

Miss Ridding, aged 34, said: "I more or less watched Keith die in France. When I flew over to a hospital in Lyon to see him, I did not know what to expect but I knew it was very serious. No one could know how that felt."

The stress of Keith's death has also taken its toll on his nine-year-old sister, Leah, who now suffers from the stress-induced illness, psoriasis.

Recent discussions about the crash -- which killed Keith, aged 14, his best pal Robert Boardman, also 14, and 16-year-old Nichola Moore -- had made Leah even more ill, Miss Ridding told the BEN.

She said: "There's been a lot of talk on TV and in the newspapers about risk assessments and greater health and safety procedures.

"But for all the extra guidelines that have been set out, nothing has changed. These tragedies keep on reccuring."

Keith was killed when the bus plunged 60 feet down a ravine in France.

He was a pupil at St James's CE Secondary School, Farnworth, and was on a school trip. The 29-seat bus, carrying 16 pupils, careered off a remote alpine road between Notre-Dame du Pre and Longefoy villages after hitting a bump.

Miss Ridding, who lives in Heaton and looks after her four-year-old disabled son, Shaun, said: "I felt as if I had lost two children on that night. Keith and Robert were the very best of friends but they were taken away from us.

"I will never forget hearing Robert's mum, Lesley, screaming in the school when she was told of her son's death.

"This tragedy should never be forgotten. People have to remember it. We're still looking for an apology from someone but no one will come forward. Nobody wants to take the blame.

"But I could live that day like it was yesterday. I can hear every word and see it second by second."

Lesley Boardman spoke of her loss to the BEN last week. She believed that lessons from the disaster had never been learnt and she is now campaigning for stricter controls in the wake of recent school trip tragedies including the death of Bunmi Shagtaya who drowned in a lake near Dieppe last week.

Miss Ridding said: "Parents need to be told of any risks of a school trip, no matter how small they may seem.

"We weren't told anything so we couldn't make an informed choice. I don't think school holidays should be banned but I do think parents should be told more."

A 1998 inquest into the tragedy, which happened during a climbing and whitewater rafting trip, said there was an "error of judgment" by coach driver Jim Shaw, now aged 47.

Bolton coroner Martin Coppel recorded a verdict of accidental death but Mr Shaw was charged with involuntary homicide and fined £1,200 by a French court.

Miss Ridding said: "I have tried to forgive but who is sorry? On Sunday I am taking my 15-year-old babysitter on holiday with me. Do I tell her mother that I shall not be responsible for her while we are away? I think not.

"I was sickened by Bunmi Shagaya's death in France. How can people say school holidays are safe? How many times have we seen these headlines? As things stand we will see them time and time again."