Hundreds call for urgent action to protect students in Kingswood after ‘van hit child’

Campaigners in Kingswood near Wotton-under-Edge have signed a handed a petition to Shire Hall to prevent children from being hit by vehicles on a narrow stretch of road.

They're calling for a reduction in the speed limit and the rerouting of a school bus as children have been injured by vehicles.

They say a narrow section of footpath on Wotton Road as well as parked cars and school buses regularly mounting the kerb has left the lives of school children walking to and from school at risk from dangerous driving through the village.

A leaflet was sent to councillors ahead of a meeting which included comments from some of the children affected.

A 12-year-old girl called Edith describes how she was hit by a delivery van while she was walking to Katharine Lady Berkeley's School.

She said: "It hit me on the arm with their wing mirror and it hurt. The driver didn’t stop to see if I was OK.

"I’m worried about me or my friends getting hit like that again or worse. If it was one of my shorter friends, they could have been hit on the head."

Dylan, 10, said: "There’s a lot of traffic and cars speeding sometimes and (school) buses mounting the kerb. I feel quite scared as I don’t know what will happen."

Councillor Linda Cohen presented the petition which calls for urgent action to protect the schoolchildren in Kingswood.

She told the Gloucestershire County Council meeting that residents are extremely concerned about the safety of their children.

Cllr Cohen said: "We will not compromise on this."

Credit: Carmelo Garcia, Local Democracy Reporter