“MY boys will never be the same again – but at least they are alive.”

That’s the emotional response from the father of the two boys who, aged seven and four, were hit whilst they crossed the road in Kinson with their mother. The driver who hit the boys was reported to have momentarily stopped before fleeing the scene.

The dramatic hit and run took place on Wednesday night as the boys, who the father wants to remain anonymous, were returning home after a ‘treat’ trip to the park for being well behaved that afternoon.

Now their father, Luis Marques, of Kinson, is calling for the junction between Kinson Road and Wim-borne Road to be improved before someone else is hit and even killed.

Speaking to the Echo just 24 hours after the horrifying incident, Luis described the incident as one of the worst days of his family’s life.

He said: “I was at work when I saw a traffic alert about an accident near my house. Then just 10 minutes later I received a call from my wife who told me that it was our boys who had been run over.

“I have never felt like that – when you get news like that you feel like you are shivering on the inside and you know something is very wrong.”

Luis, 33, rushed to the scene of the incident to find his sons lying on different sides of the road surrounded by emergency workers.

He said: “When I got to the scene I didn’t know what to do – both boys were in such shock that they were ice-cold like corpses.”

The family were rushed to Poole Hospital in ambulances where both children were kept under close hourly observation by doctors before being released on Thursday morning.

Luis thanked God for the fact that both his sons were able to come home with just cuts and bruises to their hands and legs and nothing more serious.

“Of course as their father I feared the worst but the help we got from the police and hospital was just fantastic and we thank them so much for that,” he said.

“But I fear the physiological impact is very damaging.

“They are not the same boys that left the house that day, the damage has been done and the boys and my wife will never be the same again.”

Luis said the shock has made the Portuguese family, who migrated to Bournemouth in 2006, want to return home and be near their families.

He praised the support from Echo readers, his community and staff and parents at the boys’ school Christ The King Catholic School who all prayed and rallied around for the family.

Red polo seized

A HUNT for the hit-and-run driver went on through the night by traffic officers trying to trace the female driver in a red Volkswagen Polo.

The car was tracked down in the early hours of the morning after the police were able to use a CCTV image from a bus to uncover the number plate.

Dorset Police have confirmed that a woman in her 40s from Ferndown was ‘helping police with their enquiries’.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: “At 5.10pm on Wednesday two boys aged four and seven were knocked over by a red VW Polo in Wimborne Road.

“The female driver of the VW stopped and spoke briefly but then left the scene without providing her details.”

Inspector Matt Butler of the Dorset Police Traffic Unit said: “We are pleased that the two boys injured in Wednesday’s collision are recovering well and are expected to make a full recovery.

“The VW Polo has now been located and seized by officers of the Traffic Unit.”

Insp Butler thanked the people of Kinson for their calls of support and information.

Father of the two boys Luis Marques said the driver shouldn’t have left his family on the road.

He said: “She knows what she did and by leaving the scene she committed a crime.

“We both just pray that she left because she was in shock and nothing else.

“I want a substantial sentence but I don’t want her to go to jail necessarily as that will mean more families will suffer.”

New crossing is already planned

TRAFFIC experts have examined the scene of the horror crash which saw two young brothers mown down in broad daylight.

They will consider making changes to the junction to improve safety after Wednesday afternoon’s hit-and-run collision.

It comes as the victims’ father Luis Marques told the Echo that the junction is dangerous and people driving on it ‘are not looking out for the huge amount of families and children in the area.’ He said that another child in his road had been hit last year on the junction and fears that unless urgent improvements are made, more people will be hurt.

He said: “It will happen again there and next time it could be a whole lot worse.”

Yesterday, local councillor Dennis Gritt invited Highway Network manager Martin Dover and his colleagues to check Wimborne Road, Kinson, for any safety issues.

Cllr Gritt said: “I want them to look at ways to improve the layout of the road. “A new crossing is already planned but there may be other things that can be done to make it safer.”

Local residents and workers are still coming to terms with the accident, which many feared had caused serious injury to the youngsters involved.

Jackie Brown of the Print Emporium told the Daily Echo: “We have seen quite a few accidents here because this road is dangerous – it is scary out there.

“I’m just glad that the children are going to be all right.

“It looked a lot more serious at the time.”