THE mother of a three-year-old boy who was hit by a car on a zebra crossing in York has described it as the worst moment of her life.

Katie Graver and her son, Flynn, were using the crossing near their home in Haxby Road when the youngster was hit by the car and knocked to the ground.

Flynn escaped with minor head injuries but his mother said he was “massively lucky”. The accident happened shortly after 9am on Tuesday last week.

Mrs Graver said: “We started off on the side near Blockbuster video shop and the first car stopped. Another car was up the road near the shops so we set off.

“After a couple of seconds I realised they hadn’t seen us.”

She said the car which had stopped flashed its lights to warn the oncoming driver someone was on the crossing, but the car still struck Flynn.

“It was horrendous,” said Mrs Graver. “It was the worst moment of my life. He hit the pavement and he was a bit sore on the side where car had hit him. An ambulance took him to hospital and we were out later that day. He was massively lucky.”

She said the female driver of the car “felt terrible” about the accident, but Mrs Graver has now called for the zebra crossing to be replaced.

“This happened at 9am in the morning. It wasn’t raining and was fine. People don’t always stop,” she said. “I think there needs to be traffic lights. There needs to be a pelican crossing.”

Police confirmed they were alerted to what had happened by ambulance staff.

A police spokesman said: “It is important that all motorists concentrate on the road while driving. “Road signs and pedestrian crossings are there for a reason, which is to ensure the safety of the general public.

“People must be particularly mindful of zebra crossings as a lapse of concentration could have potentially devastating consequences.”