Only days after a nine-year old Abingdon boy was knocked down and injured outside his school, plans have been announced for a new pedestrian crossing.

Josh Boreham, nine with mum Sharon

Josh Boreham, from Bowgrave Copse, was knocked down by a cyclist while walking to the Thomas Reade Primary School in Radley Road on Monday morning. A friend shouted to him and, as he crossed the road near a parked car, Josh ran into a woman cyclist.

He suffered cuts and bruises and was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for a check-up. The cyclist who was wearing a helmet and other protective gear was shaken but not hurt.

Headteacher John Searle said: "Fortunately, neither Josh nor the cyclist was badly hurt.

"The accident reinforces the need for a crossing outside the school. "

Josh's mother Sharon said: "Usually Josh is a very sensible lad and careful about road safety but for a second his attention was distracted when a friend called to him from across the road.

"What the accident brings into focus is the need for a crossing in what at times is a very busy road and dangerous for young children.

"There have been plans in the pipeline for two years and we now hope work will start during the summer holidays."

In the last 18 months Thomas Reade has had a new path built across one of its fields to make it easier for children to reach the school.

New cycle sheds have been installed and it has a "walking bus" system where children are accompanied by adults and walk to the school to cut down on parents using cars.

Mr Searle added: "We are very conscious of the need to encourage our pupils to walk or cycle to school and we are only one of two schools in Oxfordshire accredited by the county council for insurance purposes."

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council said that the concerns of the school and parents had been acknowledged and work on providing a new crossing at the cost of £48,000 would start in August.