AN angry dad whose six-year-old son was struck by a hit-and-run motorcyclist has warned fathers will take action against trail bikers if police do not.

Owen Stockting is lucky to be alive after he was hit near his home by a teenager thought to be speeding on an off-road scrambling bike.

Police and ambulance crews raced to the scene and the road in Lordshill, Southampton, was cordoned off. Officers say it is thought the bike could have been travelling at up to 60mph.

Now Owen's dad Nigel Stockting, 37, says he and other fathers in the road have had enough of trail bikers using Mattheson Road as a rat-run and threatened that if the police do not start taking action then they will.

Mr Stockting, a bandsaw operator, said: "This has got to stop. Fathers around here have had enough. If the police don't do anything, then the fathers will have to do something about it."

Other residents also voiced concern over the teenage scrambling bikers that use the road as a racetrack. One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: "It is getting bad. It's dangerous. They don't wear crash helmets and double up. There are a lot of young kids around here. I was only surprised that an accident has not happened already."

Helen Stockting, 29, told how she feared her son had been killed in the incident which happened yards from their home on Saturday afternoon.

The mother of four said: "I heard shouting outside and saw Owen lying on the ground. I ran

"over and lay down beside him. I thought he was going to die.

"The doctors said he was a very lucky little boy. He just has cuts and bruises and blood inside his scalp. Yesterday I thought how unlucky we were but now I think we are really lucky to have him.

"I can't believe anyone could hit a little child and not stop. He didn't look back. It is despicable.

"You never think this will happen to you. My son could have been killed yesterday."

Owen, a pupil at Sinclair Infant School, was yesterday recovering at home. He told the Daily Echo: "The rider was going fast. He hit my bike and pushed me up the road. We hit the kerb and I fell off and hit my head."

Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash which happened at 2.50pm. They believe the rider was a teenager wearing a dark-coloured hooded jacket. The bike was red.

PC Graham Towersey said: "Youngsters on these bikes are a continuing problem. We are very frustrated. It is difficult to catch them on our bikes."

Call PC Towersey at Shirley police station on 0845 045 4545.