Calls for a lollipop warden and a pedestrian crossing in Wantage have been renewed after a boy suffered head injuries in an accident.

The boy, a pupil at King Alfred's School, was cycling through the town with friends when he collided with a car. He was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, with minor head injuries.

He was the last of a group of children cycling from the end of Post Office Lane into rush-hour traffic along Wallingford Street, just outside Rowes newsagents, at about 4.30pm on January 8.

A member of staff at the nearby Motoquip shop, who asked not to be named, said young children often put their lives in danger cycling into the traffic at speed.

He said: "He had a very lucky escape. Kids are always cycling down this path in rush hour."

Peter James, who owns James' Heating Services, opposite the scene of the accident, said more needed to be done to educate children about road safety.

He added: "Children come rushing through on to this road. This was an accident waiting to happen. But it could have happened anywhere in the town. It could have been any one of hundreds of children doing the same thing.

"There seems to be a lack of education. They don't seem to be aware of the dangers. They don't use lights or helmets."

King Alfred's assistant principal Simon Spires said the school ran a road safety education programme but believed more crossing patrol officers were needed.

He said: "We have a theatre group coming into the school to perform a road safety drama and talk to the pupils. Things have moved on from the days of simply having someone stand up in assembly."