A PETITION to bring a school crossing to Keswick was presented to Cumbria County Council yesterday due to fears there will be a fatality without one.

Sue McCauley, a Keswick resident and parent of three attended the county council’s Local Committee for Allerdale with town councillor David Burn on Wednesday to present her petition for a crossing on the A5271.

She has fears that young people of Keswick School could be hit by a car crossing High Hill which is a main route into the town and feeds in from a fast section of the A66.

Presenting her petition to the council, Sue said: “Many children cross the road to work to and from the local villages and to access the local garage before grabbing snacks and drinks and then trying to cross the road to catch their bus home.”

She said that fast moving cars are unaware of the many students they are about to encounter and pupils are dodging cars to cross the road.

“It really is horrible to witness. The road into Keswick School is a very fast stretch of the A5271 straight up onto the school.”

Sue said: “Please don’t let it come to a fatal accident before you choose to build a safe crossing and as the winter nights draw, in the risk of an accident only heightens with rain warnings and significance such as the weather causing more hazards and peril.”

Keswick Town Councillor David Burn said: “Rumble strips have been installed and may have improved matters but the fact remains this is a very busy stretch of road.

“The very strong community view is that a pedestrian crossing is desperately needed. The safety and wellbeing of pupils attending Keswick School lies squarely with this committee.”

The petition presented to council has received 1,152 signatures on Change.org and is rising by the day it is backed by the school's headteacher Simon Jackson.

Councillor of Keswick Tony Lywood said: “I think we are at a time of limited resources and there are decisions to be made about how we spent our money.”

But he said: “This is an accident waiting to happen. It’s time that we address this and it’s time that a pedestrian crossing was put across that road.”

Vice-chairman of the committee Alan Barry responded with a statement: "The local member for Keswick has also raised the community's concerns at a recent meeting of the Highways Working Group, where members agreed that an assessment should be undertaken by Traffic Management officers.

"This assessment is due to take place in the coming weeks, now that the school summer holidays are over and schools are returning to usual operation following a long period of restrictions due to the pandemic."

Councillor Barry said: "The assessment will consider both vehicle and pedestrian movements and behaviours and take into account other relevant factors specific to the location."