A ZEBRA crossing installed on a busy South Craven road after years of campaigning is "an accident waiting to happen" according to one resident.

Villagers called for a zebra crossing on the busy stretch of Keighley Road, Eastburn, after locals became too frightened to cross it for fear of being knocked down.

The road is the main route to Airedale General Hospital and runs parallel to Eastburn School.

However, this week, Eastburn resident Beverley Newton, whose house overlooks the crossing and who was one of the original campaigners, said the new safety measure was not working.

She claimed motorists were taking no notice of the crossing and that it could not provide a safe point for residents to cross.

"I just don't know what we can do to get car drivers to stop. There must be a reason why they are not stopping. It's just an accident waiting to happen at the moment," added Mrs Newton.

Mrs Newton went on to cite numerous tales of local residents who had risked their lives by using the crossing.

She told the Herald of one woman who had been allowed by traffic coming from one direction to cross halfway, but was then stranded in the middle of the zebra crossing as three cars from the other direction whizzed past.

Mrs Newton added that her 10-year-old son Luke who attended Eastburn School was fed up of waiting for cars to stop at the crossing and subsequently she had to watch him cross the road in the morning on his way to school and on his way home.

She added: "It only takes someone to get fed up of waiting and to step out. It's just not safe."

A traffic survey two years ago revealed that 657 vehicles used the road between 8.25am and 8.55am and more than 750 between 3pm and 3.30pm - an average of one every three seconds.

The crossing was installed at a cost of £24,000, and links Mill Row and a path leading to Greenfield Gardens and forms part of the route to Eastburn School.

Approval came after protesters took drastic measures to make themselves heard.

Their action included staging a roadside protest with children carrying banners asking motorists to slow down, and when this did not work, they walked back and forth over the pelican crossing near the post office in order to slow the cars down.

Now Mrs Newton has contacted Steeton-with-Eastburn parish councillor David Emmott about her concerns over the new crossing.

She says the matter can only be resolved if people were made more aware of the zebra or if it was upgraded to a pelican crossing. That way drivers would be forced to stop by traffic lights.

Coun Emmott told the Herald this week he would be investigating solutions to the problem.

He said: "We worked very hard to get the crossing and it's better than nothing, but it isn't working. People are not taking any notice of it whatsoever and we don't really know what to do with it to improve it."

He said the only way forward in his opinion was to consult the police about the matter and look into ways in which the crossing could be improved.