ROAD safety around Stokesley School is to be improved with the installation of a puffin crossing.

North Yorkshire councillors have agreed that the crossing in Station Road should be installed as planned during the school half term holiday in October.

Traffic in the area is heavy because Station Road serves not only the school but also a number of houses and the industrial park.

The prospect of a puffin crossing was welcomed by the school whose deputy head, Martin Trent, said there had been two injury accidents involving pupils and two reported near misses in Station Road in this school year.

He added: "This is about average for a school year, and our assessment is that the likelihood of a real tragedy seems very high if we do not take action as a result of what these accidents tell us."

Mr Trent said the school took in and discharged about 1,500 pupils at the beginning and end of the day but had been designed to accommodate only a third of that number.

The county council committee for Hambleton on Monday received letters from the local district councillor and the parish council indicating support for the crossing but only if it was installed as part of, or after, the introduction of a proposed 20mph limit in the area.

Traffic managers said they understood the concerns but did not believe they were enough to justify postponement of the crossing.

At the insistence of County Coun Caroline Seymour, however, the committee agreed that more discussions were needed with the school about arrangements for bus parking in an attempt to avoid traffic congestion in Station Road.