A MUM is calling for action to protect children on a busy road – 14 years after an 11-year-boy was killed by a car there.

Maria Smith, 28, has raised concerns about the safety of pedestrians on the A46 in Woodchester, near the Old Fleece pub.

Maria, who has two young children, has to cross the road to take her son to nursery and, from next month, the primary school.

On one side of the busy road which has a 40mph speed limit, there are no pathways, only overgrown verges.

Maria said she struggles with a pushchair, while holding her son’s hand, while traversing the uneven surface to reach one of the two crossing points.

“This puts us in danger every morning,” said Maria.

Scott Cook died aged just 11 when he was hit by a car there while crossing the road on his way home in April 2005.

After that tragedy, his parents successfully campaigned for a pedestrian crossing to be installed near the Old Fleece, which is called ‘Scott’s Crossing’.

But Maria said there isn’t an adequate pathway leading up to the crossing and she feels the road is still unsafe for people with small children, older children who catch the bus to secondary school, and pensioners.

“We have to walk on a sloping verge, covered in stinging nettles, which I somehow have to manage to get around with my child, walking on the main Bath Road, with cars driving over the speed limit, because many of them don’t stick to 40mph,” she said.

Scott Cook’s dad, Russell, agrees that more needs to be done to make the road safer for pedestrians.

“Ideally there’d be a pathway and another crossing a bit further down,” he said.

“The fact of the matter is cars still drive too fast along that stretch of road.

"Ideally it would be a 30 miles per hour stretch.”

Maria said she had particular trouble crossing the road after the birth of her daughter Pandora, who is now one-year-old.

“I couldn’t walk very fast at first,” she said.

“The traffic is horrendous in the mornings and so every time I had to cross the road to take my son to play group I was waiting 10 to 15 minutes until it was clear enough for me to run across.

“And then I was still worrying that one of the cars would come round the corner too fast, because it’s a blind spot as well, so they can’t see what’s going on until the last minute.”

Paul Helbrow, local highways manager for Gloucestershire County Council, said, “I have asked to be put in touch with Ms Smith directly so we can discuss how the county council could help.

"Our highways teams work closely with the local Parish Councils in this area on road safety issues, so we will include them in our investigations into installing a footway.

"If residents have any highways concerns in their area they can get in touch with us directly by emailing highways@gloucestershire.gov.uk ”