A pensioner and young girl were seriously injured and a dog killed in two crashes on the same road in a week.

Raymond Gill, mayor of Whitehaven, is now calling for investigations into safety on Sneckyeat Road in the town following the crashes, the latest of which involved an 11-year-old girl.

Police confirmed yesterday the girl is in a stable condition in Alder Hey Children's Hospital, in Liverpool, after being struck by a bus on Wednesday afternoon.

The other incident involved Mr Gill's elderly cousin, who sustained broken legs and saw his pet dog killed, in a separate crash on the same road about a week ago.

Mr Gill, who also represents the Hensingham ward on Copeland Council, said: "Because there has been two incidents in a short period of time I think the county council should look at it.

"I'm worried. It might be a coincidence, but it does warrant investigation to see if something can be done."

He has also suggested it would be useful if the bus stop, which is on the junction of Sneckyeat Road and Cambridge Road, is moved to a different place to potentially avoid any other incidents.

Emergency services were called to Wednesday's crash, which left the road closed for several hours. It is believed the collision occurred after the girl had been to a nearby ice-cream van.

A spokeswoman for bus company Stagecoach confirmed that one of its buses was involved in the collision.

She said: "As a result the girl was injured and was taken to hospital by air ambulance. Nobody on the bus was hurt. Our thoughts are with the girl and her family at this time.

"We are of course assisting the police with their investigation of the incident."

Sneckyeat Road was closed in both directions for several hours while officers investigated the collision.

Councillor Allan Forster, for Hensingham ward, says in recent weeks residents have raised concerns about traffic on Sneckyeat Road.

He says it could be down to new stricter parking regulations at West Cumberland Hospital car parks, which has resulted in motorists parking elsewhere off site.

This has subsequently resulted in neighbouring Sneckyeat Road and surrounding roads to become "congested".