PARENTS have been urged by a councillor to stop being "bone idle" and and walk their children to school.

Residents living near Wellfield Church School, Ightenhill, have petitioned Burnley Council asking for road markings, traffic calming measures or a lollipop person to make the school entrance on to Wellfield Drive safer.

Resident Diana Matthews, of Hunters Drive, Burnley, spoke at the planning and environment committee to call for action to be taken.

She said: "If you went down there at 3.30pm you would agree with me that it is chaotic and dangerous. There are no markings, no school signs and no slow signs and for the safety of children and parents we need them."

Coun Paul Smith said: "This is not a unique problem, instead it is one which we have in many schools all over the area.

"I put it down to bone idleness, there is no reason for the majority of cars dropping off children at these schools. The majority of people in the catchment areas for primary schools could walk their children to school, but this is a problem of the car culture of today." He said schools should write to parents to encourage them not to cause obstructions and if necessary have a teacher on duty to tell parents directly and even inform the police.

But Coun Gordon Birtwistle said the problem was a fact of life and if people had cars they would use them for the school run.

Coun Enid Tate, a school governor, said the same problem existing at her school and she did not know what the answer was. "Parents think they have a right to do what they want with no regard for other people," she said.

The committee recommended asking Lancashire County Council to look at making a second access to the school from Pendle Way. The council had already inspected the road markings, police are to be asked to check speed and county will be asked to look at providing a school crossing patrol.

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