AFTER several accidents at a pedestrian crossing outside a school in Malmesbury, action is finally being taken to improve its safety.

Parents of Malmesbury Primary School pupils began a campaign last year to have adjustments made to a crossing frequented by youngsters once they’d left the school.

Many motorists don’t see the traffic lights at the crossing, which is just off a roundabout, so they often pull straight off.

The road is the main thoroughfare from Malmesbury up to the Dyson headquarters.

There had been incidents of pupils being knocked to the ground by cars turning off the roundabout so calls were made to the council for action.

After much discussion among the Community Area Transport Group (CATG), the wheels are finally in motion to sort out the problem junction.

New warning signs and flashing ‘wig wag’ lights have been ordered and there are plans to resurface the road.

Tracey Ainsworth, a parent of a child who was involved in an accident crossing the road, said this was a “great first step towards improving the safety of the junction”, but insists more needs to be done.

“What the junction really needs is complete resurfacing and repainting of all the road markings,” she said.

“I am confident that the CATG is doing everything it can to address this issue.

“Unfortunately, however, I am still regularly seeing vehicles drive through the crossing when the traffic lights are red so I would urge all users to be extra vigilant.”

While progress has been made, delivery times for the improvements have not yet been confirmed.

The resurfacing could be done as late as 2018 if the plans cannot be incorporated into next year’s ‘major maintenance programme’, which has already been drawn up.

Wiltshire Councillor and member of the CATG group, Simon Killane, said there is “no point” in putting in new road markings if the road still needs resurfacing.

“This is about alerting drivers to be more aware there is a pedestrian crossing there,” he said.

“We would like to see it resurfaced, however there is no point putting markings down if need resurfacing. We have limited funds.”

While the crossing still awaits improvement, Malmesbury Primary are making sure they keep their children as safe as possible at the crossing.

Headteacher at the school, Steve Heal, said: “All schools worry about traffic around their sites in the morning and at home time. Large numbers of cars and young children are a dangerous mix.

“But the problems at the bottom of Tetbury Hill are unusual because there are a number of hazards in quick succession.

“We have worked to give the children additional road safety training focused specifically on the crossing, but any improvements to the crossing are warmly welcomed by the school, as they will be by parents and local residents.”

Dyson's expansion means that there will be an extra 1,500 people working there in addition to the 2,000 already there, so it is anticipated the traffic flow through the site could increase significantly in the future.