THE mother of a teenager who suffered horrific injuries in an accident involving illegal motor bikes is fronting a campaign in Halton to stop their use.

Cathy Behn and grandmother Pat Behn, of Brookvale, Runcorn, are pleading with other parents across the borough never to bow to pressure to buy their children motor bikes, quads, 'minimotos', and scooters. They say the feeling of personal guilt when something goes wrong is too much to bear.

Her son suffered an injury described as 'degloving' - the skin was pulled off from his knee to his ankle and required reconstructive surgery. He also suffered a string of other injuries.

She said: 'My son was involved in an incident. They were riding down Stockham Lane one after the other and as the one in front turned they had a head-on collision.

'He had broken hands and a broken femur and the skin came off from his knee to his ankle.

'They were both on brand new bikes which were the latest craze at Christmas.

'I had been Christmas shopping and my stepson cam up to me and said 'there's been a bad accident'.

'I just thought it wasn't real. 'I felt guilty for buying him the bike. My message to parents is however much they go on at you, never go down that road. You'll end up with a child in a wooden box. One in five motor bike accidents is a fatality.'

Cathy's mum, Pat, said: 'After what happened, whenever I hear an ambulance siren going past I cringe. It's become a traumatic experience.'