THE mother of a young boy who died after being hit by a car has vowed to keep the memory of her “cheeky, adventurous" son alive and make sure “lessons are learnt” from the tragic accident.

Jackson Yates was 17-months-old when he died in an accident in a hotel car park in Salford, Manchester, in August 2017.

His mother, Cheryl, from Yarm, near Stockton, is now trying to raise awareness of car park dangers, especially for young children and families, so something positive can from the “worst day of my life”.

The Northern Echo: 'CHEEKY': Jackson Yates'CHEEKY': Jackson Yates

Speaking to The Northern Echo, she said: “The first year was especially difficult - especially on all the milestones like the first Christmas. He was born on my birthday so that day as you can imagine was particularly hard.

“I was off work for five months but they were fantastic about it. I’ve got another son who is 18 so I had to keep going for him.”

Jackson was on a trip away from home with his family to see one of his favourite Cbeebies shows when he was hit by the car just a matter of feet away from his mother.

An inquest heard the car was travelling at just two miles per hour, and the driver could have done nothing to avoid the collision.

Jackson suffered severe head injuries and multiple skull fractures. A verdict of accidental death was recorded.

Mrs Yates added: “I had a little boy – Cody James Yates – in March so that is keeping me busy, but he will never replace Jackson and it is not about that.

“You think about the fact they should be playing together, and Jackson would have started school now. We go to his grave and we have pictures of him all around the house.”

Following the tragedy, Mrs Yates has decided to dedicate her time to getting road safety information into primary schools through her charity Blue for Jackson.

Since losing Jackson, she has received dozens of messages from other families who have lost children in traffic accidents or had near misses

“We donate road safety packs and bereavement books aimed at two-to-seven year olds to local primary schools and nurseries and sell Parking Pals on our Facebook page via eBay for people to buy.

“It is all about raising awareness. People I know say they feel a bit more nervous getting behind the wheel since the accident, and schools don’t have the funding they once had – some children have no road safety lessons at all.”

On Saturday, Blue for Jackson received a donation from organisers of a charity fundraising ball at Worsall Village Hall.

The winter wonderland event, held last December, raised more than £3,500 for a number of charities.

Organiser Wendy Saunders said: “It was key for us to support local charities and it was wonderful to greet Cheryl and Carl Yates, who came along before the doors opened to see how money was going to be raised for their very personal cause.”