FEARS for the lives of school children outside Horsforth's schools has led to a city councillor's campaign to get action before a child is killed.

Councillor Brian Cleasby (Lib Dem, Horsforth) is calling for 20 miles an hour speed limits to be introduced outside all the schools in the Horsforth ward, which also includes part of Rawdon.

This week he has written to Leeds City Council highways director Jim McArthur asking him to consider the

feasibility of turning the roads around all schools in Horsforth into 20 mph areas.

Coun Cleasby said: "If something isn't done, eventually somebody will be seriously injured or even killed.

"There are lots of problems on Broadgate Lane, where there are two primary schools, there is rat-running down West End Lane, and in Rawdon children struggle to cross the busy main road to get to St Peter's School. If you get a 20mph limit, you might get cars passing at 30mph, whereas at the moment we have a 30mph limit which people go through at 40mph."

He also added he was looking at ways to encourage people to walk to school, rather than be driven."

l Meanwhile, town councillors will step up their campaign to get traffic calming measures on West End Lane when they meet with private traffic consultants on the problem road next week.

The city council is reluctant to fund any traffic calming on the lane, and town councillor Alastair Cook is hoping a private company can suggest a scheme which meets legal

specifications.

"We can then go back to the city council, tell them we have a scheme which meets the right criteria and has been drawn up by one of their own consultants," said Coun Cook. "I hope the town council would be able to fund the scheme if the city council approves it."

He added: "People are cutting through the residential area at the bottom of West End Lane to get to the A65 - traffic calming is one way of slowing and discouraging drivers from using that road as a rat run.

"The road is very narrow, there is no footway and residents say there are a lot of car bumps on the road, which is well used by children going to school."