A PARISH council is asking nearby communities to help pay to get the speed limit lowered on a village road.

Members of Croft-on-Tees Parish Council have written to neighbouring councils and community groups about the speed of cars in South Parade, near the village school.

The letter, written by clerk of the council Ian Calvert, calls for traffic on the road to be restricted to 20mph and to ensure limits are put on the number of cars on the road during busy periods.

Mr Calvert said: "For many years this parish council and residents of Croft-on-Tees have had concerns regarding the volume of traffic using South Parade to access Croft Primary School.

"Children now attend this school from the parishes of Hurworth, Dalton, Eryholme and both the Cowtons.

"There are nearly 100 pupils, of which 70 per cent come from outside the parish."

The council is calling for a community group to be formed to lobby Darlington Borough Council's highways department to put a 20mph speed limit on the road.

Mr Calvert said: "The granting of such an application would automatically involve the laying of speed restrictors and the addition of new signs."

Mr Calvert went on to say the highways authority would only meet the cost of creating a speed restriction if statistics were provided to show how many accidents or deaths had occurred on the road.

But he said traffic should be slowed down before there were any serious accidents.

He said: "As a community, we are not prepared to wait for statistics to happen and wish to contribute towards the cost of the 20mph project, thus ensuring that the application receives closer consideration."

Croft Parish Council has proposed that local groups join together to offer to pay £4,000 of the estimated £20,000 that the speed restriction scheme would cost.

All neighbouring parish councils, and some church and community groups in the area, have been offered the chance to visit South Parade at the start and end of the school day, to see the extent of the traffic problem.

Croft Parish Council hopes to raise the £4,000 through donations in the next few weeks, so the highways authority can decide whether or not to include the work in its next budget