TWO accidents in which young girls were knocked down and injured on Skipton's Gargrave Road were inevitable, it is claimed.

Resident Margaret Rouse blames the accidents on a chaotic mix of children, buses, cars and other pedestrians.

The latest victims were struck by cars in separate incidents as schoolchildren piled onto the streets at 4pm.

One of the girls, a 13-year-old, was knocked down outside Ermysted's last Tuesday, and an 11-year-old was hit outside Skipton Girls' High the following day.

Mrs Rouse said pupils waiting for their buses filled the whole pavement for about 20 minutes and other youngsters and pedestrians had either to fight their way through the crowds or walk into the road and risk being hit by a bus or car.

"When the schools come out you can't get past - the children just crowd the pavement, some of them with cigarettes in their hands. It is a nightmare for pedestrians."

She added that a cigarette had burned her granddaughter as they had tried to squeeze past and that pedestrians often had to avoid large schoolbags which were swung from pupils' shoulders.

Mrs Rouse said that she knew of one local pensioner who, if she found herself walking up Gargrave Road at the end of the school day, would wait near St Stephen's until the crowds had dispersed.

A mum of three has also refused to tackle the intimidating crowd.

"It is absolutely horrendous trying to get through the young people," said Mrs Rouse.

She added that not only was it a problem for pedestrians but she had seen a number of near misses between cars and youngsters on push bikes.

She said pupils sped down Gargrave Road on their bikes and had to overtake the buses in the path of oncoming cars.

She came up with three suggestions to solve the problems.

She thought the Skipton Girls' High and Ermysted's pupils could be asked to walk either to Coach Street car park or the bus station and meet their buses.

Mrs Rouse said that there were pedestrian crossings to ensure the pupils got safely across Gargrave Road and across Swadford Street.

Or, she suggested that space inside the school grounds should be made available for the pupils to wait and for the buses to pull in and pick them up.

"They should have somewhere else to wait for the buses rather than out on the pathway.

"I don't want to see anyone killed or injured, just as much as I don't want my granddaughter to be burnt with a cigarette again," said Mrs Rouse.

She added that she had spoken to the police before last Tuesday's incident and told an officer that there would be an accident if the youngsters weren't moved from the roadside.

Craven District and Skipton Town Councillor Marcia Turner suggested that land owned by Ermysted's School at the rear of the premises, near the bottom of Raikes Road, could be made into a bus park.

She said many parents collecting their children by car already waited there and it would be easy for pupils from both schools to go there for their buses.