A woman was left lying injured after being knocked down by a child riding an off-road motorbike on the pavement.

Susan Parkin of Rimswell Holt, Greengates was walking home on Ravenscliffe Avenue when she was hit. She thinks the rider could be as young as 10.

She said: "I could see the lad riding towards me. He was only about 10 or 11 but was going quite fast. I tried to dodge out of the way but he still hit me."

As she was struck, near the junction with Harrogate Road, Mrs Parkin fell to the ground with a badly injured leg and a bruised face.

She said: "The lad hit me so hard that he came off his bike too. I asked if he was OKbut he didn't answer. I asked him to pass me my bag and call for help but he got back on his bike and rode off."

Unable to walk or stand, Mrs Parkin said she lay crying on the pavement but nobody came to help.

She said: "I was there for about 15 minutes. There were two teenage boys down the road, a row of houses opposite and a lorry driver even saw what happened and slowed down but not one person came to help."

Mrs Parkin crawled along the pavement and managed to pull herself up on a tree.

Reaching home, Mrs Parkin's husband called the police who sent an ambulance to take her to Bradford Royal Infirmary.

She said: "The doctors said I'd been lucky. If it had been an old lady or someone with a baby it would have been much more serious."

Mrs Parkin's leg was X-rayed but was not broken.

Councillor Michael Attenborough (Lib Dem, Eccleshill) said: "Trial bikes seem to be very popular with young kids in this area. At almost every neighbourhood forum the problem is highlighted but clamping down on them is difficult because they are very quick on the move."

Coun Attenborough said the Council was liasing with police in an attempt to tackle the problem.

Sergeant Paul Hepworth, community safety officer for Bradford North, said: "Since January we have been given additional powers to allow us to seize vehicles causing a nuisance.

"We have already warned about 25 people in the Eccleshill division, which covers Ravenscliffe and Thorpe Edge and if they commit any further offences we will not hesitate to confiscate their bikes."

Sgt Hepworth said officers had recently seized a quad bike from an 11-year-old in Ravenscliffe who was riding it on the streets of the estate.

Sgt Hepworth said the boy's parents had bought him the bike without realising the implications.

Bradford Council's anti-social behaviour team is paying for two off-road bikes to help police clamp down on offenders in Bradford.

Anyone with information about the incident involving Mrs Parkin, on Monday at around 2.15pm, should call Eccleshill police station on (01274) 376059.