An Oxfordshire woman is helping lead a national campaign to cut the number of deaths and injuries caused by hit-and-run drivers.

Zoe Stow, of Nettlebed, near Wallingford, is chairman of Roadpeace, a national charity for road traffic victims, which is staging a month of events to raise awareness of its work.

Mrs Stow, whose 15-year-old son Alec died when he was knocked over on the A4130 by a car in 1995, has been chairman of the charity for the past five years.

It was founded to provide emotional and practical support to bereaved and injured road traffic victims and to raise awareness of dangers on the road.

Mrs Stow said: "If somebody is killed in a road accident, there's an inquest, a police investigation, often a criminal case and sometimes a civil case.

"People have to face all these procedures at a time when they are bereaved, and yet there is very little support for them.

"Someone dying as a result of a road crash is just as sudden and violent as a murder."

Six years ago, the charity decided to stage an annual month of awareness-raising.

The group picked August to commemorate the deaths of two significant road crash victims --Bridget Driscoll, the first ever road crash victim who died in 1896, and Diana, Princess of Wales, who was killed in Paris in 1997.

This year, the organisation is using its road victim month to call for action to reduce the number of hit-and-run incidents, and is campaigning for tougher penalties for drivers who fail to stop after an accident.

Mrs Stow said: "The law for hit-and-run is very poor.

"People can be charged with leaving the scene of an accident or failing to stop, but that only carries up to six months in prison and magistrates often only sentence people to half that. We think the law can be toughened up."

Throughout August, the charity is staging an exhibition at London's City Hall, and on Saturday will carry out a 'stand and be counted' demonstration opposite the Houses of Parliament.