Pupils have carried out their own traffic census as part of a plea to authorities to help them prevent the street outside their Bradford school becoming a death trap.

Pupils at Killinghall First School, Undercliffe, say the volume of traffic outside the school is "horrendous" and have started a campaign to slow down speeding motorists.

Now the youngsters, who are aged between three and nine, are to present the results of their survey - along with a 250-name petition - to West Yorkshire's Chief Constable Graham Moore in a bid to enlist his support for their campaign to get a crossing outside the school gates.

Headteacher Jane Bingham said: "Killinghall Road is just horrendous and the children are really concerned about the situation.

"The Council did carry out a survey here a couple of years ago but said there wasn't constant enough traffic using the road to warrant the installation of a crossing.

"But the situation has moved on since then with the school getting bigger and the road getting busier. The children get very frightened when traffic doesn't stop for the lollipop lady."

The results of the children's survey show that in just ten minutes, 171 cars used the road in both directions, with a further 83 lorries and vans.

Eight-year-old pupil Robert Ellis said: "We really, really want a pedestrian crossing outside the school and that's why we've written to the policeman. The traffic is very scary."

Mrs Bingham said that concern grew after 14-year-old Rehana Bi, a pupil at Carlton Bolling School, was killed in a car crash in Killinghall Road in December..

"Something needs to be done about the situation before it's too late. That's why the children decided to do something about it themselves," she said.

A Bradford Council traffic spokesman said: "We last did a survey in November 1995 in Killinghall Road and at that time the traffic and pedestrian movement figures did not meet the criteria for us to install a pelican crossing. However, circumstances do change and we will carry out another survey."

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