SAFETY fears over a busy stretch of road outside a primary school have prompted the community to come together to tackle the issue.

Parents, teachers and school governors from North Newton School met Sedgemoor district councillors, police officers and Highways Agency staff to discuss problems caused by parking and people driving too fast along Church Road.

The meeting, chaired by Cllr Anne Fraser, acknowledged the inadequacy of local parking facilities and the narrowness of roads through the village but put forward a number of positive suggestions that warranted further consideration.

Head teacher Nick Arnold said: “I am hoping that, together with whole community, we can raise awareness regarding road safety so that all roads users slow down, drive more carefully and we find ways to reduce the high volumes of traffic during school runs.

“I am pleased the Highways Agency has agreed to carry out a monitoring programme over the next few weeks to analyse the traffic situation in North Newton and we look forward to their findings.”

North Newton School pupils will be invited to take part in a competition to design a poster which will then be circulated to parents and put on noticeboards to act as warning of the potential dangers caused by speeding drivers.

Parents and children will also be invited to a number of talks with road safety officers.

At the meeting, Highways Officer Rob Davey agreed to install monitoring equipment to record speed and numbers of cars and to provide further information on flashing speed signs to be installed near the school.

Cllr Anne Fraser said: “It was a good meeting. This is a group of people who have come together and come up with some good ideas.”

Further meetings are proposed with the wider community to explore other possibilities of increasing parking spaces and encourage responsible parking.