Residents on two estates where young children have been seriously hurt in road accidents are demanding action to stop it happening again.

The mothers of the injured children say they are "living in fear" of the next accident and want traffic-calming measures to be introduced urgently.

At Ravenscliffe a four-year-old boy suffered a fractured skull after being knocked down on the pavement in a hit-and-run. And on Holme Wood a three-year-old girl nearly lost her foot when it was crushed under a car's wheel.

Courtney Puttock underwent six-hours of micro-surgery to save her right foot after the accident in Grayswood Crecent. She lost the skin, tendons and veins from the top of her foot after crossing the road to an ice-cream van. She faces several operations over the next few years to take tendons and veins from other parts of her body to rebuild her foot.

Ravenscliffe residents launched a petition after the little boy was knocked down by a scooter on Thackerary Road.

The scooter was dumped where the boy lay and the rider fled. The youngster was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary and is now recovering at home. His mother, Diane Richardson, said when she saw him lying on the pavement she thought he was dead.

"He's a really bubbly child and it's awful to see him with his injuries," she said. "He had four fractures to his skull. I'll have to keep him in now and he won't understand why he can't play out.

"The rider looked shaken and said 'sorry' before he ran off, but what use is 'sorry?' There are cars and bikes racing down these roads all the time and they don't care. Even after this happened they're still doing it."

Mrs Richardson said she was sickened to discover her garden fence had been ripped down while she was at the hospital.

"I've tried to make it secure for the children but it keeps getting ripped down. The only way children can be safe in this area is if there's decent fencing to keep them in and speed humps to control the racing cars and bikes. We live in fear of the next accident."

Residents say teenage gangs as young as 14, driving scooters, motorbikes and cars, use roads off Ravenscliffe Avenue as speedways.

"They come down at 40mph and use roundabouts at the bottom as speed-ramps," said resident Eric Henderson. "There are speed humps along Ravenscliffe Avenue but we need them on the side roads too.

"Some of these kids are so small they sit on cushions to reach the steering wheel."

The petition was launched by Thackeray Road resident Garry Hodgson, who saw the little boy get knocked down outside his home.

"He was tossed into the air like a doll and dragged along, it was awful," said Mr Hodgson. "Unless these roads are made safer, something like this will happen again. Every other house along here has young children and it's not safe for them to play out. These side roads are like race tracks."

The petition calls for Bradford Council to install traffic calming and new fencing along side roads.

"Parents have been crying out for new fencing, to keep their children safe from the roads, but nothing has been done. Now this has happened they'll have to listen," said Mr Henderson.

Campaigners are also presenting a 400-signature petition calling for traffic calming to Bradford Council after the accident involving Courtney.

Courtney's mother April Puttock, 34, said she was relieved her daughter was home from St James's Hospital, Leeds.

"But I miss seeing her running around and dancing with her sister," said Mrs Puttock. "She has no feeling in her foot and finds it difficult to put her weight on it but she's gradually getting her confidence back.

A pupil at Knowleswood School, Holme Wood, Courtney is seeing a specialist next Tuesday to see how her foot can be re-built.

Dad David Puttock, 41, said: "Everyone has been extremely helpful and supportive, it's encouraging to see so many people have signed the petition."

Campaigner Andrew Summers, who lives next to the Puttocks, set up a petition the day Courtney was injured. He said: "Something needs to be done about this road, it's a blind bend and there are at least 100 children living along here."

The petition will be submitted at the Holme Wood neighbourhood forum at 11, The Parade, Holme Wood, on Tuesday, May 13, 6.30pm.

A Council highways spokesman said: "When the petition is received it will be investigated and discussed at the appropriate committee meeting."