CHILDREN as young as five are playing a deadly game of dare, dodging traffic on Bolton's motorway network.

Police patrols had to close both carriageways of the M61, near Kearsley and Farnworth, to rescue stranded youngsters, aged just five and six, from the central reservation.

It follows other 999 calls warning of children playing along the stretch of motorway.

And today a police officer warned the motorway madness could end in tragedy, adding: "One of these children is not going to make it to the central reservation. We are going to end up with a child fatality."

Concerns have also been raised after reports of other youths congregating on footbridges in the area to throw stones at passing motorway traffic.

But in one of the most worrying incidents, two girls aged five and six from the Kearsley area had to be taken to safety from the middle of the motorway as they tried to walk across the busy carriageways.

Motorway users alerted police to the youngsters and the network was temporarily sealed off during the rescue.

The youngsters told officers they had strayed on to the motorway as they tried to make their way home after playing on the Little Hulton side of the carriageway.

Now police fear even more children could stray onto the motorway during the summer holidays.

Police patrols receive up to three calls a day about children playing on the motorway.

PC Dave Stamp said: "We do not want to see these children near the motorway.

"Not only do they place themselves in great danger, it also creates safety concerns for motorway users.

"This is a problem that has got worse in recent months. You find that some children have created dens under motorway bridges.

"Eventually one of these children is not going to make it to the central reservation. We are going to end up with a fatality."

Police chiefs are urging parents to ensure their children do not trespass on to motorways, particularly between junctions three and four of the M61.

In the past two days, officers based at Birch Service Station on the M60 have received emergency calls about children playing in the M61's slow lane near Kearsley.

On Monday, officers were called to reports of youths throwing objects from a footbridge above the motorway near to Great Lever and Farnworth Golf Course at 4pm.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "The problem tends to be worse in the summer holidays.

"It is important that these children's parents and the police get across the message of how dangerous it is to play in such places.

"Drivers just do not expect to see pedestrians on these roads."