A MOTHER has collected a 137-signature petition demanding more safety measures outside Glusburn Primary School.

Adele Bealey, whose six-year-old daughter, Hannah, is a pupil at the school, collected the names in just five days.

She presented the petition to county councillor Philip Barrett who, as the Herald reported recently, has been pushing for better signage, railings and road markings around the school entrance to alert road users to the danger of children crossing.

Mrs Bealey said that she had recently moved from Glusburn to Cross Hills and it was only when she approached the school from the other direction that she realised how dangerous the entrance was.

A childminder, she said she often had three school-age children in her care along with two babies, and took her life in her hands walking along the narrow pavement.

She said that she had seen wagons and other vehicles mount the pavement as they took the bend, and come dangerously close to "clipping" parents and their children.

Another danger, she added, was drivers turning right into Beanlands Drive and other vehicles coming up behind too fast and colliding with them.

She said that although the last fatal accident there was more than 30 years ago, it was only a matter of time before it happened again. "When you see a parent running backwards to avoid a wagon, it is scary," she declared.

Coun Barrett said that he wanted a full safety review of the school entrance, in addition to the railings already promised by the county council and the additional signage.

"I want to have a full review of the measures needed around here. I know there have only been a few incidents, but it only takes one," he added. "We do need something."

And Mrs Bealey added: "Anything's better than nothing, a lot of parents are very concerned."

At the end of term a letter was sent to parents from the school asking them to express their concerns in writing to Bill Isherwood, the area traffic officer for North Yorkshire County Council.

Mrs Bealey and Coun Barrett urged people to write, even if they had already signed the petition.