HUNDREDS of petition signatures have flooded in to support a safety campaign started by parents to protect their children from a busy March road.

The campaigners are calling for action on Station Road, a traffic hotspot which is used by hundreds of pedestrians every day.

The road, branded an “accident waiting to happen”, is a key route for parents walking their children to three primary schools - All Saints, Westwood Junior and Maple Grove Infants.

Petitions demanding a permanent crossing were distributed last week. Within days more than 400 concerned parents and residents had backed the campaign with their signatures.

Mum Tamsin Nichols, who has led the campaign with fellow parents Ruth Gowler and Hannah Brown, said: “The response has been phenomenal. We have had people coming up to us in the street saying what a good idea it is. This isn’t just for mums, it’s for all the residents as well.

“People have approached us and told us about their own near misses with cars. The sad fact is that people are scared of that road.

“It’s not that we want speed humps or anything unreasonable, it’s just a zebra crossing. We’ve even said that we would get the paint out and do it ourselves.”

The safety push has been backed by the local schools and children are being encouraged to enter a competition to design a road safety poster. The winning poster, which will be announced next week, will be used throughout the campaign building up to a “Big Walk to School Day” on November 26.

Teachers had previously been seen donning high visibility jackets to stop traffic and help children cross the road.

Burrowmoor Road, which is similarly busy, has lollipop men and a pedestrian crossing to ensure the safety of walkers.

But campaigners have blasted the safety precautions in Station Road - two small islands - as out of date.