FEARS over the safety of speed bumps in Malmesbury’s town centre have been expressed after a father was clipped by a car while walking his daughter to school.

Rupert Barker, 37, said that on Tuesday morning he was walking his 5 year old daughter to school along Abbey Row when a Silver Ford Focus hit him with its wing mirror.

He was hit on the wrist and although he did not sustain any serious injuries he explained that he knew other people who had had also been clipped.

He said: “I know someone who very nearly got hit by a bus and there are certainly other people who have had bad experiences on Abbey Row.

“I saw a look in the rear view mirror because I shook my arm at them. What most annoyed me was that they didn’t cover the brake pedal. There was nothing at all.”

Mr Barker explained that he thought part of the problem was that people tried to line their cars up to pass over speed bumps in the road, drawing too close to the pavement in the process.

The humps, installed throughout the town, do not cover the entire road but are raised across only the middle of each lane and can be avoided a cars wheels can be positioned either side.

Mr Barker added: “Because they don’t go right the way across the road people line up to get the least ‘bump’ as they go over it and get a bit closer to the pavement.

“It was a clip on the wrist and I’ve had no ill effects whatsoever but if it was a woman on sticks or an elderly man on a frame it could have been a lot worse.”

A spokesman for Wiltshire Council explained that the humps were not new and that they had had the desired effect since being implemented.

They said: “The speed humps were installed in the late 1990s as part of the Malmesbury town centre 20mph zone and have proved extremely effective in reducing both traffic speed and road casualties.

“At the time the 20mph restriction was installed, the regulations required formal traffic calming measures to accompany the restriction in order to ensure the zone was self-enforcing.

“Although this condition has since been relaxed for new 20mph zones, a decision was made several years ago, following lengthy consultation with the town council and local community, to keep the traffic calming measures in their current format.”