PARENTS, staff and councillors are calling for cars to slow down outside a Bridgwater school before a serious accident happens.

Parent Hayley Carter-Nash highlighted the issue of cars driving too fast in Kings Drive, outside Willowdown Primary School, following a near miss with her son last year.

“I was driving my five-year-old son to school at 30mph and someone overtook me and very nearly lost control of their car near the school,” Mrs Carter-Nash said.

“It could easily have caused a fatality.”

Mrs Carter-Nash, who is 34 and lives on the Kings Drive estate, said a lot of young children do not have a great deal of road awareness and it would only take a second for a serious incident to happen.

“The nearby schools at Enmore and Sydenham have 20mph limits outside and they work well,” she said.

She said she had seen road users slow down when police carried out speed checks in the area but that was not enough.

“It shouldn’t take a policeman stood there with a speed gun for drivers to slow down near a school,” Mrs Carter-Nash added.

“Headteacher Oliver Priestley at the school has been fantastic, as has Mike Senior at the parish council, I have spoken to a lot of other parents who feel strongly about this.”

Cllr Senior, chairman of the Bridgwater Without Parish Council, backs the campaign and said: “I have lived in this area for about five years and we have seen incidents and near misses here frequently.

"The road is designed to be winding in the hope it will slow cars down but it seems to have encouraged speeding drivers to head down and drive apex to apex which is simply dangerous close to a school.”

He said in recent times they had seen one car collide with a lamppost and a couple of cars ending up in the nearby Rhyne and others, and added: “It is imperative we get this sorted but it shouldn’t take a campaign."

A spokesman for Somerset County Council said: “We understand and appreciate concerns about vehicle speeds on Kings Drive, however reducing the speed limit is not as simple as just changing the signs and road markings.

"We also have to follow guidance from the Department for Transport, justify the proposed changes and demonstrate they are likely to be effective.

"Requests of this nature can be considered for funding through the Small Improvement Schemes (SIS ) programme.

"For further information, please visit www.trafficchoices.co.uk/somerset and speak to your local County Councillor.”