VILLAGE residents have expressed their concerns about “dangerously fast” driving near the entrance of a primary school.

At the monthly Parish Council meeting, Hurworth residents called on councillors to push for a 20mph speed limit on Roundhill Road, specifically near the entrance of Hurworth Primary School, after concerns were raised for the safety of primary school children.

The road was described by one resident, who is a parent to two children who attend the primary school, as a “fatal accident waiting to happen”. She recounted that she has witnessed cars ignoring yellow stop lights, vehicles travelling “well above” above the current 30mph speed limit during the school’s opening and closing times and drivers choosing to ignore the school’s lollipop lady’s directions. “I’m scared to walk my children along that road on the school run because of the way in which cars fly along there, with no regard to their speed,” she said. “I honestly believe there will be a fatality there at some point.

“We need better measures, because if a child is hit at 40 miles per hour they’d likely be dead, whereas if they were hit at 20 miles per hour they have a much better chance of survival. I always have hold of their hand, but it just takes a second for them to walk out into the road.”

The Parish Council shared with the meeting the latest traffic statistics, which showed that the average speed from 51,725 vehicles was 28.20mph on Roundhill Road.

Ward Cllr Lorraine Tostevin confirmed that the 20mph limit is due to be implemented in areas near the village’s secondary school, Hurworth School on Croft Road, but a 20mph limit on Roundhill Road near the school entrance would take several years to receive attention.

This information prompted heated questions from several residents as to why measures would be put in place to protect children from the local secondary school but not the primary – with one resident asking why Darlington Borough Council (DBC) was “refusing to save the children” by choosing to prioritise the road outside the secondary school.

Cllr Tostevin promised to look further into the demand for measures on Roundhill Road.