A young boy who ended up fighting for his life in intensive care after being knocked down by a bus is now back at home.

Paul Tate, 11, sustained serious head injuries after being hit by a First Calder bus as it overtook a parked bin wagon in Lillands Lane, Rastrick, on August 15.

Paul's aunt, Melanie Tate, described Paul's recovery as "miraculous" but said he was still visiting Leeds General Infirmary for physiotherapy and school classes.

"Paul won't be going back to school for a while until they find him a support teacher," she said. "But the main thing is that he is home with his family and is fully on the mend. He is slowly getting back to his old self and has had all his friends round to see him. He made a great many friends in hospital as well."

Mrs Tate said the accident had made Paul more wary of the dangers on roads. Although he is making a speedy recovery, Paul has been left with double vision, balance problems and short-term memory loss.

Following the incident, an investigation was launched by the police and FOCSA, the company responsible for emptying the bins on behalf of Calderdale Council, to establish whether Paul had been helping the binmen empty rubbish when it happened.

Witnesses said they had seen him wearing a brightly-coloured tabard and helping take rubbish to the wagon shortly before the accident.

A spokesman for Calderdale Council said they had asked FOCSA to investigate the incident but were still awaiting an outcome.

"We are already working with FOCSA on revised safety procedures and training for FOCSA employees," he said. "We are also revising procedures for reporting problems like this where children are involved."

Paul, of Oaklands in Rastrick, spent three weeks fighting for his life in the intensive care unit at LGI following the accident, before being moved to the children's ward where he spent a further three weeks. During his time in hospital, he received a get well letter and baseball cap from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and postcards from members of the casts of The Bill and Eastenders - two of Paul's favourite television programmes.

He was due to start Rastrick High School in September, after leaving Longroyde Junior School in the summer.

Nobody from FOCSA was available to comment.