A PUPPY was left badly injured after a hit and run incident on a ‘rat run’ road. Now his owner is fearful that the next victim could be a child.

Henry is only six months old and had to have two of his claws amputated after being struck by a car on Wood Street, Fingerpost.

His owner, Victoria Graham, spoke to the Star about her puppy’s ordeal.

She expressed her disgust after the driver failed to stop after hitting the young collie.

Victoria, 30, said: “The car sucked both of his back legs under and all the driver did was indicate afterwards.

"Well I want to say thank you to the driver for not stopping - it’s just common courtesy to stop.”

The mum-of-one emphasised the need for more signage in the area after numerous near misses between cars and children playing in the road.

She stated: “One of these days a child is going to be hit by a car down this road because there’s been so many near misses.

"Drivers should be aware that there are kids playing in the street and there will be animals running about. There will be someone killed.”

With a school at one end of Wood Street and playing fields in the middle, Victoria is concerned that children, including her 14-year-old son, could be in danger as cars use Wood Street as a shortcut to Haydock.

She said the road has now become a ‘rat-run’ for drivers.

There are already traffic calming measures in place along Wood Street but the student nurse has contacted St Helens Council as she believes more needs to be done to protect local residents.

Victoria has been told that her area will be assessed shortly and a Council spokesperson told the Star that they “will be looking into it".

Henry had been on a lead when the accident happened but escaped the grasp of his owner.

He had to have two digits amputated from his back right paw and is now recovering at home.

The puppy has been prescribed with antibiotics to treat an infection he picked up after his operation.

He will be undergoing a number of procedures under sedation at his local vets over the coming weeks to clean out his wounds.