Warning after `bus surfing' leaves boy critically ill

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is urging young people to give up a "bus surfing" craze which left a 13-year-old schoolboy critically ill after a near-fatal collision on Friday night.

Accident investigators believe Birmingham Anthony Ball was holding on to the double-decker bus which he was "surfing" on rollerblades when he lost his grip and spun into the path of a van travelling in the opposite direction.

Roger Vincent, a spokesman for RoSPA, called on parents to warn their children to steer clear of the potentially fatal "bus surfing" craze amid concerns that it might spread to other areas of the country.

"There is no way children should be rollerblading on the roads - it is a crazy thing to do. Traffic and this sort of thing don't mix," Mr Vincent said.