Concerned parents demand 'dangerous' crossing is made safe in Northamptonshire village 'before children die'

Residents in a Northamptonshire village are urging the council to make a 'dangerous' and busy road safe before a fatality happens.

A handful of concerned Chapel Brampton residents met with the Chronicle and Echo at the Welford Road/Pitsford Road crossroad on Monday morning (March 7) to share their experiences.

The residents say they 'fear for their lives' when crossing it and want West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and Northamptonshire Highways to implement traffic calming measures.

Parents say the main issues with the crossroad is that cars speed down Welford Road and those who are pulling out onto it from Pitsford Road have poor visibility.

Just up from the junction is Chapel Brampton Primary School, which means hundreds of children and parents use the road every day.

Katie O'Brien, who has lived in the village for two years, said a child was hit by a vehicle just before Christmas.

The 38-year-old mother said: "It's a nightmare in the morning for the mums to cross over the road with their children. There are lots of concerns around child safety.

"We won't let our children walk to school, there's no way, because we are too scared of the traffic. We can't cross this road. The drivers coming through are not considerate.

"One child has already been hit on this road just before Christmas, she was hit in the face by a wing mirror. She was checked over at hospital and was okay.

"It's only a matter of time before someone gets hit again - I think that's what it's going to take until WNC take some action."

Katie said she thinks simple measures to calm traffic is to paint road markings to make them more visible.

She added: "Highways said it is a low risk area, four crashes in nine weeks, I wouldn't say that's low risk."

Another concerned mother, Suzie Davis, said she 'takes her life in her own hands' each morning when getting her child to school.

The 42-year-old said: "It's so dangerous. Every morning we take our lives into our own hands just trying to get across. A simple job of getting the children to school is a massive challenge.

"How much is a child's life worth? It makes me feel really sad and angry.

"It's always been a busy road but the accidents are becoming more frequent. We need a crossing to be able to get across safely.

"I've stood in the road being a lollipop lady to get people to slow down so we can cross. We could be standing here for five to ten minutes trying to cross."

Suzie pleaded to WNC, saying: "Do something. Take some action. We shouldn't have to wait for a fatality for something to change. We should be preventing it from happening, not waiting for it."

Another resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the noise of lorries driving down the road wakes him and his family up at 5am every morning.

He said: "Lorries are doing 40 to 50 miles per hour (mph) in a 30mph road between 5am and 8.30am every morning. They are loud, they hit the potholes, and pictures and mirrors fall and smash off the walls in my house.

"We have got an old boy who lives on the corner who says there is an accident probably every month.

"The council came out last month but said it won't do anything because there aren't enough collisions. They came down at 2pm, the quietest part of the day. I would like them to come down at 5am."

The man said if he had an 'open check book' he would get a digital speed camera, paint the junctions, add in pedestrian crossings, ramps, and a chicane.

He added: "Creaton had got a pedestrian crossing but we're not allowed one. Why?

"WNC mentioned a digital speed camera. I said, 'brilliant, do it, where do we sign?' They said, 'well we don't know if we've got the money'. But it would generate its own funding."

WNC has been contacted for comment.