Students at Sarah Bonnell School in Stratford have taken road safety into their own hands after a young pupil’s road accident.

A Citizenship Studies class at the Deanery Road school have launched a campaign to get yellow zigzag lines painted outside the pupils’ entrance to the school so cars cannot stop in the area.

Two weeks ago, a young girl was in collision with a car and, though she did not suffer serious injuries and has made a full recovery, her fellow pupils decided it was time to take action.

On Thursday (March 15), the students decided to line up along the road spelling out “Stop Parking Here” to discourage drivers in the area.

The students wrote to the Recorder: “We have been working hard on this campaign for four months now. We have been preparing to do the campaign and now we think it is the right time to do this now due to a girl getting hit by a car recently.

“We have been in contact with people in the Local Authority as well as the parents of the students, to inform them of what is happening so they could stop parking on the road to make it a safer place for students and staff.

“All of us in this class feel very strongly about this campaign as we want to prevent anyone else from getting injured, students or pedestrians.”

A council spokesperson said: “We take the safety of pupils seriously. The entrance to the school has been moved from Deanery Road to Water Lane as part of improvements made under the Building Schools for the Future Programme.

“Highway markings outside the Water Lane entrance have always been part of the programme and the traffic orders are being processed.

“We will introduce the lines at the earliest opportunity. We are working with the school to encourage parents to act responsibly if they have drop off or pick up children in the area outside the school.”