A church bell is to toll 2,452 times... to mark each road-accident victim in Kirklees.

Campaigning vicar the Reverend Paul Knight will lead a service at Birstall's St Peter's Church next week to remember people killed and injured on the roads last year.

The event was first held in 1998, when Mr Knight decided to highlight road safety after Birstall schoolgirl Nardeanne Barnett, 12, was seriously injured by a car while crossing Bradford Road just yards from the church.

Mr Knight said: "The service aims to give people affected by road accidents some spiritual support, while once again publicising the dangers on roads.

"It is quite a sobering thing to hear a church bell ringing out - especially when you know what it signifies."

Mr Knight said he planned to make the service an annual event. Last year's service was part of a campaign to introduce a pedestrian crossing to the junction of Bradford Road and Kirkgate, where Nardeanne suffered head, pelvis, arm and leg injuries while walking from St Peter's Junior and Infants' School to her home in Monk Ings. Now a pupil at Bruntcliffe High School, Nardeanne was unconscious for a week and was away from school nearly four months.

"I hadn't really considered road safety as an issue before the accident," said Mr Knight, "but I've had to take funerals for children, one of whom was a road-accident victim.

"I hear of accidents and it does bring it home to me more and more."

Last year the number of people injured on Kirklees roads rose by 278 to 2,452, compared to 1997.

While the number of people killed last year dropped by three to 19, serious injuries were up 13 to 209, and the number of minor injuries went up by 266 to 2,224.

The church will open its doors on Tuesday, May 18, at 10.30am and a short service will be held at 11.30am. The ringing of the bell, which will take around one hour, will start at midday. Anyone affected by a road accident is invited to attend.

Kirklees highways chairman David Sheard said: "Anything that raises awareness is a good thing. People change when they get behind the wheel of a car and impatience results in deaths and serious injuries."

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