Four year old Sam Thomson smashed his head into one of two metal barriers recently erected in Forth Recreation Park.

And it was the SECOND injury in two days suffered there by a child in similar incidents.

Now furious parents are asking for the immediate removal of the barriers and are seeking an explanation as to why they were erected by South Lanarkshire Council in the first place.

Sam's mum Pamela told the Gazette that he had gone with his dad Colin to the Park on the early evening of June 17 to ride his bike around the track.

Riding onto the track the eager youngster didn't see in time one of the new security barriers that had just been erected — exactly at head-height for a child Sam's age.

He duly smashed, head-first, into the sturdy metal structure, obviously designed to resist an impact with a vehicle, never mind a four year old on a bicycle.

"If he'd not been wearing his crash helment, he'd be dead," a still angry Pamela told the Gazette.

"It's just as well me and my husband are bikers and so know the importance of wearing a helmet, even if it is just on a kid's pedal-bike.

''I reckon that saved Sam's life. The impact actually cracked the safety helmet, which was a good quality one.

"Even then, the helmet came down hard on his nose and there was blood everywhere. He was in a terrible state.

''You can imagine how I felt when he was brought home after it. He was a sight."

Pamela had Sam checked out by a relative who is a fully qualified nurse and she established that the four year old had narrowly escaped a broken nose.

However, hardly had Pamela got over the shock when she heard that, the night before, an allegedly identical accident had befallen another child.

Neighbours had told her that a young girl had had her front teeth knocked out after colliding with one of the barriers.

Attempts by the Gazette to identify the young girl from the first accident have so far been fruitless.

Pamela said that she understood that the council would not have put up the barriers for no good reason; she thinks it might be to discourage teenage scramble bikers from using the track at night.

However, she called the barriers overkill and is appealing for the council to adopt a method of discouraging scramblers which doesn't put children at risk.

She also questioned the barriers being lowered almost permanently, only lifted when official sporting events are on, such as at the village's recent Gala Day.

She said that the use of the track by child cyclists was harmless and that the facility was meant to be used by the local community.

A South Lanarkshire Council spokesman said: "The barriers have been installed to stop vehicles from using the running track.

"This has been a problem in the past and they are necessary to stop any more incidents.

"We have been informed of two incidents where children have had an accident because of the barrier and are currently investigating.

"We would ask park users to exercise caution when near the barriers."
Ron Harris