A LOLLIPOP lady believes it is only a matter of time before someone is killed on a dangerous stretch of road used by hundreds of primary school- children.

Kathleen Reeves has been patrolling Victoria Street in Blackburn town centre for two weeks and is already calling for urgent road safety measures to be implemented.

She said: "It is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident. Barriers and signs do not cost that much and it could save a life or a few lives.

"I am very concerned for the children's safety. This is a very dangerous spot. Cars speed along it and often don't see children crossing until the last minute.

"I have no idea how the children coped before I arrived." A child was taken to hospital and another suffered slight injuries when they were involved in separate accidents on the stretch used every day by 300 pupils from St John's Primary School. Kathleen and Councillor Hussain Akhtar have joined forces to campaign for road barriers, a box junction and street signs to warn motorists of children crossing.

Councillor Akhtar, who is set to meet with councillors to discuss the problem, said: "We want to thank the authority for providing a lollipop man and woman but we need more to protect the children and mothers crossing."

Headmaster of St John's David Whalley wants a health and safety survey to look at the problem of Traffic on the road.

He said: "Traffic has been a constant problem along here. It just gets busier and busier.

"It probably has the worse accident record of any road in the borough. Two pupils from the school have already been knocked down."

A spokesman for Blackburn Council said: "The school crossing patrol is the responsibility of Lancashire County Council.

"No-one has complained to us but we will certainly look into the problem."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.