Carlisle children were hit by vehicles dozens of times in four years, analysis of official figures has revealed.

Campaigners say more should be done to educate youngsters about road safety after thousands of child pedestrians across Great Britain were hurt or killed in incidents between 2017 and 2020.

Analysis of Department for Transport figures by insurance company Churchill reveals that during that period, 29 children were hit by a vehicle in Carlisle.

Of them, eight were seriously injured.

Primary school aged pupils made up 16 per cent of all 181 adult and child pedestrian casualties recorded by the DfT in 2017-20, despite representing nine per cent of the population.

Churchill’s analysis found one incident in Carlisle involving a casualty aged between four and 11 happened in a 20mph zone, while none were within 500 metres of a school.

The figures also show that eight children were hit during school ‘rush hours’, either between 7.30am and 8.30am or between 3.30pm and 4.30pm.

According to the analysis of more than 600,000 accidents by Churchill, 10,100 primary aged children have been hit by vehicles in the UK since 2017 – around seven a day.

More than 2,900 accidents have happened during school pick-up and drop off times.

Kirsty Hoad, from Churchill, said the figures highlighted the importance of teaching road safety to children.