SCHOOL holidays can spell danger for youngsters with too much time on their hands and little to do.

It's a headache for parents to keep their kids constantly entertained, and the pressure of knowing where they are every minute of the day is immense.

In reality, the majority of children's games are innocent - hopscotch, British Bulldogs and skipping are still popular. But a small percentage of youngsters seem intent on dicing with death on far more dangerous pastimes.

'Chicken' - where youngsters dare each other to run across a busy road or rail track, usually in the path of oncoming vehicles - is 'in' at the moment .

Busy motorways, railway tracks and, more recently, clinging to the back of moving buses, are irresistible playgrounds for children, but can be potential death traps.

A report in the BEN has revealed how a driver of a First Manchester bus had to slam on his breaks after spotting a child hanging on to the bus - the worried driver thought the youngster had slipped under the wheels after disappearing from view.

Bus company bosses pinpointed the Withins estate - in particular the Kentmere Road area - as a big problem.

Other agencies are urging children to quit playing these games of dare - especially in the Easter holidays.

North West Water is running a huge Swim Safe Campaign which encourages children to keep away from rivers, canals and reservoirs and use a swimming pool instead.

Water Services Director, John Barnes, says: "Reservoirs have water drawn from them by pipes under the surface and they have strong undertows.

"Many reservoirs slope very steeply at the sides so that swimmers can find themselves out of their depth before they realise it.

"The water temperature is so cold that you can easily get cramp.

Warn

"Stay out of reservoirs and parents must warn their children of the dangers."

A spokesman for Railtrack said: "The message this Easter is 'play safe, stay safe'.

"Although we have an on-going safety promotion programme, we do stress the point during school holidays.

"Tragedies have happened because youngsters have been playing on railway lines - games like 'chicken' are all too popular.

"There are also problems with trespassers and vandals. Recently, someone embedded a metal shaft between the rails of a track - it was sticking out like a spear.

"That stupid action could have caused serious injury or death to a lot of people.

"On many occasions children copy adults. They use the railway lines as a short cut, so their children do.

"The top and bottom of this is anyone playing or trespassing on a railway line is looking death in the face.

"A train travelling between 80 to 100 mph takes half-a-mile to break.

"If you're hit by that train, you simply won't survive."

One Bolton grandmother who is well aware of the dangers of railway lines is Kathleen Harmer, from Lydbrook Close.

A section of main line railway runs alongside the estate and Mrs Harmer says that children have been playing on the line for years.

She said: "There are express trains whizzing past at all times of the day and night. Kids wander onto the track and treat it like a playground. One of these days something terrible will happen I'm sure."

PC Bill Matthews, British Transport Police's area safety liaison officer for Bolton, regularly visits schools promoting safety and highlighting the dangers of using railway lines as a playground.

He said: "Railways have always had a magnetism for many people, especially children.

"In our school talks, we make a point of targeting children in their formative years with the safety message.

Travel

"The basic warning is this - a train can travel a quarter-of-a-mile in eight seconds.

"About 30 years ago, trains were much noisier and you could actually hear them coming along the track.

"These days you can't hear a thing. You simply don't stand a chance - if you happen to be on the line when a train is approaching the outcome can, and probably will, prove fatal."

It's not just railway lines that attract youngsters - it's Bolton's busy roads as well.

And children who dice with death are also putting drivers in danger, according to Road Safety Officer, Trevor Higson.

He said: "These games of running in the middle of a busy road are tragedies waiting to happen.

"And the youngsters involved are dicing with death, not only with their own lives but those of the drivers who swerve to avoid them.

"Roads are not playgrounds."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.