CONCERNS have been raised about the speed of traffic on a stretch of road in Bradford after a crash saw a vehicle overturn on a zebra crossing regularly used by parents taking their children to a nearby primary school.

The latest accident happened on Albion Road, Thorp Garth, Idle, shortly after 10am on Sunday near the crossing outside Thorpe Primary School. A Volkswagen Polo crashed into a lamp post and railing before rolling on to its side.

Odele Ayres, whose two children attend the school, is calling for better traffic calming measures to be introduced to cut traffic speeds on the road, warning that unless something is done, someone could be seriously injured.

She said drivers regularly drive straight through the crossing when people are clearly waiting to cross, even at busy times when children are being dropped off or picked up from school.

Mrs Ayres, 39, of Laceby Close, Idle, whose eight-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter are pupils at the school, said: "We can be stood there and three or four cars will go straight through the zebra crossing. My kids know to wait until the car has completely stopped, but I often have to put my arm out to make sure they don't step off the pavement too soon.

"It's a nightmare. I have seen occasions when a parent steps out, a car screeches to a stop, and then there has been a blazing argument with the driver.

"There have been near misses - and some times I've stood there with my mobile held out in front of me to take photos of the cars who don't stop. But it doesn't seem to make a difference. We need something else to be done."

Thorpe Primary headteacher Cathy Lynch said they had previously requested a school crossing patrol but had been told they were inlegible.

She said: "Some cars do speed without a doubt as they are coming down the hill. We are constantly talking about road safety and consistently reinforce with the children that you do not step off the pavement until you can see the vehicle has definitely stopped."

She added that staff regularly monitor the crossing situation outside school, and that a pelican crossing could help.

Since complaints about the same stretch of road four years ago traffic calming measures have been introduced, but parents believe more needs to be done.

Local councillor Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) said she would speak to Bradford Council officers to see whether the traffic calming scheme could be improved upon.

She said: "There has been a scheme introduced there to slow traffic, but it is clearly being ignored. I will ask officers to look at it again to see what else can be done.

"But it is difficult to engineer a solution to people's bad behaviour., ignorance and lack of respect, when they don't wish to obey the rules of the road."

Andrew Smith, the Council's principal highways engineer, said: “We will visit the site and carry out a full investigation including looking at what accidents have occurred there, to determine if any highways improvements are warranted.”