Hundreds sign petition for a crossing in West Lynn

Amie Adams (8) hands over the road safety petition to Tom McCabe at the Poppyfields crossing, West Lynn. Picture: Ian Burt (Image: Archant)

Residents on the Poppyfields estate have presented the petition to Tom McCabe, Norfolk County Council's director of environment, transport and development.

They are calling for a pedestrian crossing to be put on Clenchwarton Road, the busy main road running past their estate near a blind corner.

County councillor Alexandra Kemp said a crossing attendant should be stationed there in the meantime, to help children cross the road safely to the bus stop or to travel to school.

She said: 'We are looking in every direction – we are not giving up.

'Residents want a safe crossing for their children.

'The road has a blind corner and people who live on Clenchwarton Road say they have seen near misses with cars and children.'

The county council has agreed for a traffic survey to take place which will monitor the amount of vehicles and pedestrians that access Clenchwarton Road.

Poppyfields is a large estate which mainly has homes with young families and children living in them.

Miss Kemp added: 'We need the survey done before Christmas and we are hoping that money can be found for the crossing.

'It needs to be found pretty quickly.'

The county council said there have been two accidents on that particular bend of Clenchwarton Road over the last five years.

In October, 17-year-old Alisha Watkins escaped with a bruised right foot, a sprained left foot and an injury to her finger when she was knocked down whilst trying to cross the road.

After receiving the petition, Mr McCabe said a count of pedestrians and vehicles would help to 'judge the risk'.

'With new data it will help compare with other sites across the county,' he said.

'And there are pots of money we could potentially bid on. But we are just in the preliminary stages at this point and it is not at the top of the list.'