CONCERNED parents are fighting for a safer pedestrian crossing to be put in place after a young girl was hit by a car.

Parents of children who attend St Mary and St John CE Primary School, on Meadow Lane, East Oxford, have said the crossing on Iffley Road, by Percy Street and Daubeny Road, is ‘a problem’.

Mum-of-two Lara Bosley, who lives on Bedford Street, said: “It is only a matter of time before something more awful happens.”

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Last month, a young cyclist, who was wearing a helmet was knocked off her bike and ended up with broken bones.

Ms Bosley said: “It could have been more than broken bones if it was a pedestrian without protective gear.

“We all deal with running that gauntlet daily, and it's too much now.”

Parents fear that drivers often exceed the speed limit, and some do not even stop the pedestrian crossings to let schoolchildren pass.

Emily Kerr, mum-of-four who is a governor at the Meadow Lane primary school said: “The school is on a split site – our reception children are one side of the Iffley Road and the older children on the other.

“So many parents must take children across the road as it feels very unsafe at the crossing – everyone has had an experience of a car not stopping, so people do not feel safe cycling to school.

“I won’t let my children cycle to school as it makes me nervous.”

The parents also have raised concerns about the other zebra crossing further down Iffley Road, near Chester Street, saying it also has a ‘similar issue’.

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She added: “Around 300 children are being dragged across that crossing every day – and most people who use it find it really scary.

“People don’t stop at weekends either – it is a real problem for our local community.

“I do trust the council to tackle this in the right way.”

Oxfordshire County Council, Damian Haywood, who represents Iffley Fields and St Mary’s, said he ‘completely sympathises with all those raising concerns’.

He added: “We do have a plan in place – I have talked to officers and a traffic engineer.

“The plan going forward is to apply for funding from the active travel package, from Government funding for a raised hump zebra crossing.

“Hopefully, that will reduce the speed and make it a lot safer.”

The council confirmed that it is investigating improving the safety at the zebra crossing following the incident, including looking into a bus-friendly speed bump and reducing Iffley Road’s speed limit from 30mph to 20pmh.