HUNDREDS of people have joined the crusade to get a pedestrian crossing on a busy Wickford road after a schoolgirl was nearly knocked down.

Wickford Junior and Infant schools have been campaigning for years to get a crossing on Market Road.

But it was only when a near-miss – the worst in a catalogue of close shaves – happened that the campaign took off with more than 250 people now signing a petition.

Carol Thomson, 37, of Brock Hill, Runwell, had just dropped her eight-year-old son Aiden at school in her car when a young girl went into the road on a scooter.

"I managed to stop in time but it really shook me and the little girl up, so myself and the girl's mum decided to start the petition," Carol said.

"It was horrible thinking something could have happened if it was someone going a bit faster and they couldn't stop in time.

"A little boy died in Wickford recently and we just don't want to see anything like that happen again."

Popular local lad De'Jaurne Shelton, 11, was crushed under the wheels of a lorry as he cycled to Bromfords School in October last year.

Samantha Richardson, whose daughter Isabel, eight, was nearly hit by Carol, said: "I told her to cross and she looked one way but not the other. Luckily Carol stopped in time, but it was literally millimetres.

"I couldn't do anything, time just stood still as I watched and thought 'oh my God'.

"It was such a near miss that it shocked quite a few of the parents. Now everyone is coming forward to say how horrendous it is trying to cross there. We just hope the council will take notice, but it seems as though they won't do anything until a child is killed, but we can't wait for that to happen."

The schools have made two or three attempts over the years to get a crossing installed because the junior and infant schools are on opposite sides of the road, and many parents have children at both.

Head teacher at Wickford Junior, Terry Flitman, said: "We had a near-miss recently when one of our pupils went into the road and the driver, who was also a parent, had to slam the brakes on. It missed her by literally inches.

"The child is actually very sensible but must have just forgotten this time, and that's when the parents came to see me and said, 'let's do something about it'."

There is a pedestrian crossing on Market Road but it is at the other end of the road, towards the town centre.

Most parents park in the swimming pool car park and avoid walking the extra distance to cross safely.

Mr Flitman added: "The lack of a crossing has been a barrier between the two schools setting up a better working relationship.

"We have some juniors acting as playtime buddies for the infants and we have an infants' breakfast club at the junior school each morning so the lack of a crossing really does cause problems.

"The county council has done a speed survey and we're still waiting to hear the outcome of that."

A county council spokesman said: "The site doesn't meet the criteria for a zebra crossing as there's not enough people wishing to use it during the daytime and therefore it would have safety implications.

"If a crossing is rarely used drivers tend to ignore it and speed up so that when someone does cross they have to slam their brakes on.

"However, we are looking at a range of other options and we are continuing to work with the school and parents to find a solution."