Parents whose children go to school at St James Primary School in Okehampton are campaigning for a safe crossing across the busy road outside the school.

The campaign for a pedestrian crossing over Crediton Road is being led by nearby resident Helen Holman who warns there is ‘an accident waiting to happen’.

Helen, whose grandchildren go to the school, has written to police, local councils and the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, which runs the school, calling for something to be done.

She estimates that at least 300 people – young children and parents – put their life in their hands crossing the busy road twice a day to get to the school.

The lack of both a safe crossing and a pavement along the busy road – despite hundreds of new houses continuing to be built on both sides – has long been a source of concern for the community.

Helen witnesses the traffic daily as she lives on the new Redrow Estate off Crediton Road, and says cars not keeping to the 30mph speed limit are “making turning right on to Crediton Road extremely dangerous”.

“Every morning before I go to work (between 6am-7am) I walk my dogs along Crediton Road. This is obviously a popular time for lorries and vans heading for work – probably going to the new housing estates,” she said.

“The lorries go so fast that they have now scared my dogs with the speed and noise and when I have to cross the road to walk down Chichacott Road we have to be very quick to get safely across due to the high speed of the traffic. The stretch of Crediton Road between Chichacott Road and Fort Road is wide, flat and straight encouraging drivers to go faster.

“My grandchildren attend St James Primary School. Last term the children showed me a letter they had received from school informing them that if they were in Years 4-6 they could walk home from school on their own if the parents agreed. That is children as young as eight years old. Luckily my grandchildren don’t live in walking distance from school so this wouldn’t be an issue for them.

“However, children as young as eight years old are walking out of school at home time and crossing the busy Crediton Road with no crossing or lollypop lady/man.

“The traffic is obviously very busy at this time of day with the school run which is an accident waiting to happen. With the amount of cars dropping and picking children up from the primary school with not enough room allotted for the safe parking of all the cars, drivers and parents getting frustrated and angry causing aggressive driving. On one of my walks past the school I had to take to the hedge as there was a parent driving (all four wheels) down the pavement. The safety of the young children has not been considered.

She added: “There is going to be a really nasty accident – is this what you are waiting for before you do anything to make this road safer?”

The Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust has been approached for a comment.

Devon County Council, as the highways authority, would be responsible for putting in a pedestrian crossing.