Woman on a mission to get safety railings on verge where her son fell

Megan Summerson said her 15-year-old son Thomas could have been killed when he fell off his bike from the raised curb onto busy Gallowgate as he was riding up the hill towards the Gallowfields Trading Estate in the town.

Mrs Summerson, 38, of Cutpurse Lane, Richmond, said: “Thomas was riding his bike home on the path and was a couple of hundred yards up the hill from the Gallowgate and Pottergate junction when he fell off into the road.

“Luckily there was not a car coming fast up the hill from the lights, and he was opposite the fire station – a fire engine was just behind him and stopped to bring him home.

“We need some railings put up there, and along the raised pavement along Pottergate – lots of children use that route to walk to school and I’m scared someone could be killed.

“I’m a mum on a mission.”

Mrs Summerson, who is also mother to Dominic, six, and Charli-Jade, four, rallied together other parents at local primary schools, and won the support of the governors at Richmond Church of England Primary School.

She collected 800 signatures within three days of her son’s accident.

She said: “I have written to William Hague MP and got the support of Richmond Mayor Councillor Stuart Parsons.”

The North Yorkshire County Council Highways and Transport Department, Richmond office, confirmed to Mrs Summerson that the footway was maintained by the council.

North Yorkshire County Coun Parsons said: “Mrs Summerson is a fantastic woman who has taken this petition into her own hands and gone on a mission to make a change for the better.

“The railings will definitely be put up – I hope by September at the latest so it is in time for the next school year.

“It is something the local Highways office has wanted there for some time but it has not been a priority case because no one has been injured.”

He added: “Mrs Summerson has motivated the parents at the local schools and got the signatures which will help me get this done.”