Calls for crossing after car collision (From Stroud News and Journal)

Calls for crossing after car collision

PARISH leaders say a pedestrian crossing is urgently needed in Bussage after a schoolgirl was hit by a car.

The seven-year-old, who lives in the village, was crossing Tanglewood Way near Tesco Express just before 7pm when the accident happened last Tuesday.

She was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital with a suspected fractured jaw. County highway chiefs have earmarked funds from next year's budget for a crossing - but it not guaranteed to go ahead. Now, parish councillors fear the incident may be repeated if something is not done soon.

"By the law of averages it will happen again considering the number of people on the estate and the speed of the traffic on Tanglewood Way," said Cllr Murray Watson.

"Everybody has said this would happen, hoping to God that it wouldn't, but people go far too fast around there. I have been pushing this ever since I joined the parish council over a year ago."

Mike Doyle-Davidson, chairman of Chalford Parish Council, which covers Bussage, said: "We have been trying to get something for quite a while and the need was agreed by the county over a year ago.

"They ought to get off their backsides and spend some money on this. John Lindsay, area traffic manager at Gloucestershire County Council, said: "They asked for a pedestrian crossing to be provided so we undertook an assessment to determine the number of people crossing there.

"The need was established around 12-18 months ago. It went into a melting pot of priority assessments and it is provisionally in the programme for next year.

"Hopefully we should be starting design and consultation work on it next year but the whole budget is subject to approval by the county council cabinet."