Toddler Mark Christy whose leg was broken in three places after he was hit by a car on a notorious 'rat-run' was expected to return home today.

And while the three-year-old faces at least another three weeks in traction, the campaign to install traffic-calming measures on the road where the accident happened has intensified.

Eccleshill Police traffic manager, Sergeant Brian Pickford, has written to Bradford Council voicing his concerns about the safety of Fagley Lane and the adjoining roads which run through the Fagley estate.

His action comes after a petition with more than 120 signatures on it was collected by Dawn and Liam Lunn after their three-year-old daughter Tayah had a miracle escape when she was run over by a car on Flinton Grove.

Residents on the estate want the Council to stop Fagley Lane being used as a 'rat-run' by motorists who turn off the Harrogate Road roundabout down the lane to Flinton Grove and along Fagley Road.

Sergeant Pickford said: "It would be very difficult to stop traffic going through there completely because a lot of people use it to get to and from Harrogate Road including residents living on the Fagley estate.

"I think closing it, although it would probably be welcomed, is something the Council is unlikely to do."

Meanwhile Mark's mother Deborah faces an uphill struggle to get her son back on his feet. She said: "He's been in traction for two weeks but the doctors said it could be at least another three weeks before the clamps can come off.

"Then he's got to have a light-weight plaster cast fitted. They've said it could be eighteen months until he's back to normal. They still don't know if it's going to affect his walking and he'll probably miss going to nursery school."

Mrs Christy, 28, who works in a fish and chip shop, said the accident was still horrifically clear in her mind.

She said: "It wasn't the driver's fault. He was coming up behind us and Mark came round to my left side. The next thing was he slipped on the kerb and his foot went round the car's wheel arch and got stuck.

"I think they should close Fagley Lane down. It's a deathtrap," she added.

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