CALLS have been made to investigate the safety of a newly completed road crossing after a nine-year-old boy was taken to hospital following a collision with a car.

Work on the High Street, Harwood Road and Blackburn Road junction was completed last month after starting in the middle of February.

Police said the youngster was crossing the Eachill junction at High Street in Rishton when the collision happened shortly after 2pm on Saturday, June 20.

Lancashire Police said the boy was taken to hospital by his mum with a ‘bump and cut on the head’ and no police or paramedics were called to the scene. No arrests were made.

Rishton councillors and county councillor Miles Parkinson have called on Lancashire County Council (LCC) to ‘investigate the timings’ of the crossing immediately to check that there is enough time for pedestrians to cross.

However, Peter Bell, Lancashire County Council’s network control manager, said there is a ‘delay’ after the pedestrian green light has gone out, giving people ‘enough time to cross safely’.

He said: “We haven’t been alerted to any faults at this junction and our engineers will be on site to double check the crossing is working properly. They will also be meeting the county councillor to discuss this issue.”

The improvements scheme included minor road widening to improve the left turn from Harwood Road to High Street, resurfacing the road at the junction and relocating the southbound bus stop on Blackburn Road further away from the junction.

Bus priority technology, cycle facilities and a pelican crossing were also introduced.