CHILDREN are playing a deadly new game clinging to the backs of moving buses. Last night, experts warned that “bus surfing” could end in tragedy. Lauren Pyrah reports.

AS a car driver cautiously followed a bus negotiating an ice-covered road he could not believe his eyes. Clinging to the back of the 7.5-tonne vehicle were three children laughing and joking as it weaved its way past parked cars. With just one slip they could have fallen under the wheels of the vehicles behind.

The driver of the bus was unaware of the dangerous game being played because the youngsters were crouching below the rear window.

Shocked, the car driver stopped and just had time to take a photo on his mobile phone before the bus pulled away.

Police in Darlington were so concerned they handed a copy of the picture to The Northern Echo with the warning that: “The roads are not a playground.”

The dangerous craze has already claimed the lives of two children.

A teenager from East Anglia died after losing grip of a bus and, in 2008, ten-year-old Jordan Lee Widdall-Hughes died after falling off the back of a lorry in Newport, South Wales.

At his inquest, the coroner warned: “Even though a sense of adventure is a part of growing up, parents should stress to their children that jumping on moving vehicles is unacceptable, dangerous and potentially fatal.” Last night, Carl Christopher, spokesman for The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: “We can all relate to the thirst for adventure young people have, and to be sure, bumps and bruises are an important part of growing up.

“But clearly, there’s potential for far more than just a scrape if something were to go wrong in this instance, the consequences hardly bear thinking about. Indeed, we know of at least one case in which a young person was killed while vehicle-surfing in the past six months.

“Not only that, but these lads are putting other road users at risk, not least because it’s often difficult for a driver to know that people are surfing.

“And that’s not to mention the potential for adding strain to the emergency services, already stretched at the moment.

“The roads are not a playground.”

Durham Police have also warned the youngsters are risking their lives and putting others in danger.

Inspector Steve Steen said: “They are playing a very dangerous game.

“It is not grown up to do this sort of thing. It is not something we want anyone to copy.

“It has potentially fatal consequences and they are putting themselves and others at risk.”

Arriva, one of the bus companies which operate in Darlington, also condemned the trend.

Company spokesman John Fozzard said: “It is absolutely dangerous. If they make a mistake and a driver behind is forced to swerve, it could cause a very serious road traffic accident.

“We would seriously discourage anyone from thinking about carrying out this activity.

“It is extremely dangerous and not only puts their own lives at risk, but also the lives of passengers and motorists.”