'Great danger' traffic fears outside school

Parents at a primary school on a busy main road say their children are in "great danger" because of passing lorries and other traffic.

A petition has been launched for the speed limit outside Woodmansey Primary School on the A1174 between Hull and Beverley to be lowered to 20mph (32km/h).

Claire Moy, who walks her son, Blake, 6, to school every morning, said: "It's a really unsafe environment for children to be walking down. If the problem isn't looked at, something tragic could happen."

East Riding of Yorkshire Council said it was aware of concerns over traffic outside the school and was actively working to improve safety.

Ms Moy said: "There are no barriers to protect us from the traffic speeding towards us every day and it would just take one wrong move.

"It's just a really unsafe environment for children to be walking down as they're in great danger."

Ms Moy called on the council to improve safety on the road.

"There should be nothing on the agenda higher than the safety of children," she added.

Parent PG Linde said he was once walking to school with his two children when a truck carrying large metal objects passed just 1m (3.2ft) from their heads.

Mr Linde said: "A lot of the time my wife brings the children to school and I sit at work thinking about it, and she then makes sure she lets me know when the kids have been dropped off."

Parent Brad Gibson, who is also a governor at the school, said he was "totally behind" the call for the speed limit on the road to be reduced from 30mph (48km/h) to 20mph.

"During the drop off and pick up times it can be dangerous and hair-raising at times, particularly without barriers protecting the children. That's the bare minimum we deserve," he said.

Headteacher Jonathon Williams said he believed the road was dangerous and would be "fully supportive" of the speed limit being lowered.

"This school has been a school since 1856, so it obviously wasn't built for the infrastructure and roads we have today," Mr Williams said.

"The children at the school are often briefed on road safety, but it doesn't stop the busy road outside of our school."

Phillip Taylor, who has worked as the school's lollipop man for five years, said he had to "hope the big vehicles put their brakes on and stop" for his sake and the children's.

He added: "There are nearly 100 children now in the school. It's not just a small village school anymore and there's just traffic going by all of the time.

"We definitely need the road to be a 20 now."

The council said: "We are holding a meeting at the school on Monday, with the parish council and police representatives, to discuss this issue and how we can work together to address these concerns."

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