DORSET Police say they will be ensuring foreign students staying in Bournemouth receive the correct cycle safety information following a road accident on Thursday, August 11 which left a woman badly injured.

The 20-year-old young woman is on a life support machine after being a collision with a double-decker bus as she cycled through the town.

The student suffered massive head injuries in the accident and remains in a serious but stable condition at Poole Hospital.

The victim's next of kin are being contacted by the Korean Embassy.

The accident happened at 10.55pm at the junction of Lansdowne Road with Beechey Road and involved a Yellow Bus being driven by a 51-year-old Bournemouth man.

There were 34 passengers on the bus at the time but only two have come forward as witnesses.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: "While many of the passengers are believed to be foreign students, police are appealing for passengers on the bus to contact them as they may be able to help with enquiries."

Acting sergeant Mark Williams of the Ferndown Road Policing Unit said: "We will be making enquiries to ensure that the information the schools are giving is up-to-date and being distributed to the right people."

Mike Francis, vice-chairman of the International Education Language Forum, said schools that are members of the Recognised English Language Schools Association (RELSA) had to comply with health and safety regulations. This includes providing students who intend to cycle with safety information.

There are no controls over the information unaccredited language schools give to their students.

But Bournemouth Borough Council works closely with language schools to spread the road safety message.

The council provides schools with bookmarks which contain basic cycling dos and don'ts such as wearing the right clothing, using lights, not riding without a helmet and not riding on the pavement. These are issued to students in their induction packs.

Geoff Turnbull, engineering services manager at the council, said: "We work very closely with all the foreign language schools in Bournemouth to give as much support and advice as we can to foreign students studying here.

"The language barrier does make it difficult to converse with all students, and that is why the bookmarks we produce are mainly explanatory pictures and simple wording.

"We also supply material to the local bicycle stores, so when a student buys or rents a bicycle, they will be given the same information about road safety."

Schools can call the road safety department on 01202 454654 for advice.

Anyone with information about the accident should call PC Chris Wales at the Ferndown road policing unit on 01202 222222.

First published: August 13, 2005