A SCHOOLGIRL is “lucky to be alive” after being hit by a van as she crossed an Irvine road.

Alicia Boyle was knocked off her bike as she crossed Middleton Road on her way home from visiting a friend on Monday at around 3.50pm.

The 11-year-old suffered some cuts and bruises but miraculously escaped any serious injury, despite leaving the van with a huge dent.

Her mum, Joanne Boyle told the Times her daughter had been very lucky.

She said: “She’s definitely been very lucky. She is lucky to be alive, it could have been so much worse.”

Alicia had gone to visit a friend who lives nearby - at the other side of Middleton Road.

The youngster was on her way home when she was hit by a delivery van. Joanne was at home in Bourtreehill when a neighbour rushed to tell her news no parent wants to get.

She said: “I have never been so scared in my life as I was when a neighbour chapped my door and said Alicia had been knocked down.

“I just abandoned everything and ran to her. “When I got there I got such a fright. She was hurt and upset but also dazed and in shock. She had no idea what had happened to her.”

Joanne says Alicia is clued up on her road safety, but told her mum she just didn’t see the van coming down the 40mph road.

She said: “The delivery driver who hit her with his van was in a state too. It’s just been a terrible accident.

“After a while Alicia was able to tell me what happened. She said she looked left and right three times before crossing and one minute the road was clear and the next this big van was there and they collided.

“She has had a terrible fright. We all have.

“There is nothing scarier than getting that chap at the door. I will never forget it.”

Alicia, who is a P7 pupil at Annick Primary - which is just yards from where she was run over - is now resting up up at home in Bourtreehill and enjoying having a few days off school.

Joanne added: “She is ok physically but she has had a big fright so she is going to have a few days off with me to rest.”

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “Police were called to Middleton Road on Monday, January 15 at around 3.50pm following reports that an 11-year-old girl had been struck by a car.

“She was taken to Crosshouse Hospital for treatment.”