'SOME of us have nearly been hit by cars' is just one of many shocking statements written in a letter to the council by Year 5 pupils at a Somerset primary school.

Children at Elmhurst School in Street have written a plea to Somerset Council to improve their perilous daily school commute.

Issues include 'very overgrown' hedges which have scratched children forced to squeeze onto the already narrow pavements of Elmhurst Lane, which also result in buggies having to be pushed on the busy road to make space.

Cars have begun parking on the pavement, further reducing the space for the children, because the yellow zig-zag lines to stop cars from parking there have faded almost completely away.

As a result, many children have had near misses with cars attempting to park on the pavement during the school rush.

These issues have resulted in Elmhurst School implementing additional road safety measures such as assemblies, and dedicated teaching time on road safety.

The children hope the council will hear their pleas and install a zebra crossing, safety lights, electronic flashing signs, or even speed bumps outside of the school.

Somerset Council have since responded to the schoolchildren's pleas for safer roads.

A spokesperson said: "We are keen to work with local communities to see what can be done to make roads safer.

"The best way to raise these issues is to contact your local member and parish or town council, who in turn can liaise with our Highways Team as part of a partnership approach. In terms of concerns about hedges or other issues, these can be quickly and easily reported online – this is the quickest way to reach our team.

"According to our records the road markings were recently refurbished, so we have asked our engineers to look into this issue.

"We’d urge residents to please report issues online by visiting www.somerset.gov.uk and search report a problem on the road."

The full letter from the concerned Year 5s can be read below:

“We are Year 5 children from Elmhurst Junior School, Street and we are writing to you to express our worries about the safety of our pupils walking to and from school.

“It is important for us to raise some concerns that we have with you and hope that you will offer some immediate support in this matter.

“Firstly, Elmhurst Lane is exceptionally busy, especially during drop off and pick up times.

"The pavements are a particular issue as they are extremely narrow.

“We have some parents with buggies trying to walk to school and often they have to go onto the road to pass each other.

“This is an accident waiting to happen! In addition to this, the hedges are very overgrown and some children have been hurt or scratched whilst walking along these narrow pavements.

“The next issue is regarding the yellow zig zag lines.

“These have become faded and many parents think it is ok to park on them for a quick drop off.

“Some of us have nearly been hit by cars zipping onto the yellow lines.

“Some cars have even parked right on the pavement!

“Our headteacher has often asked parents personally and via our school messaging service not to park on the yellow lines.

“Additionally, we have asked for community police officers to walk up Elmhurst Lane during these busy periods, but again it hasn’t reduced the problem and it is unfortunately still happening.

”This causes congestion and very often leads to frustration from residents and motorists at the apparent chaos caused by parents and children arriving or leaving the school.

“We are very concerned to have learnt the following facts from The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents : 1 in 3 of all child pedestrians that are killed or seriously injured are aged 10–11 years old.

"Every month, 1,200 children are injured near schools.

“Almost half of all accidents that happen on the road occur between 15:00 and 18:00 As a school, our teachers are always helping us to ensure we stay safe on our roads.

“We have assemblies, road safety visitors, Curriculum 4 Life lessons and have even studied the local settlement in our Geography lessons.

“We feel that something needs to be done and we need your help!

“As a group, we have some suggestions, which include creating a zebra crossing, safety lights, electronic flashing signs or even speed bumps outside of our school.

“These are all permanent one off cost solutions whereas a crossing supervisor is not.

“These adjustments would make our friends less vulnerable on their journeys to and from school.

“We look forward to hearing from you very shortly and trust that you will take this matter seriously.