THE chairman of governors at a Bury primary school has slammed Traffic bosses who said "no" to a pelican crossing.

Mr John Holden, chairman of governors at Fairfield County Primary School in Bury, said traffic chiefs should "hang their heads in shame" for turning down their request for a pelican crossing outside the school on Rochdale Old Road.

He claims the safety of children crossing the busy road has been a problem for several years, and the existing safety scheme, a traffic island, has only made the situation worse. He added that the situation is so bad that the recruitment of a crossing patrol officer has been difficult. Over the past three years, parents and teachers at the school have made numerous requests for a pelican crossing on Rochdale Old Road.

But at a meeting of Bury's traffic and engineering sub-committee, members threw out the request, saying a pelican crossing failed to meet specific criteria.

Said Mr Holden: "Those responsible for making that decision should hang their heads in shame. This is a real safety issue. It's madness when you consider the amount of money spent on other unwanted, unnecessary and in some cases dangerous road schemes."

He sited examples of costly schemes as "red bus-boxes", "absurd mini round-a-bouts" and "the ridiculous road layout at the Walmersley Road/Moorgate/Peel Way junction, with more lights than Blackpool illuminations but not as pretty." But borough engineer Mike Cannon said that the issue was not one of cost. He said: "It is a case of what is most effective and justified in dealing with pedestrian needs."

Accident records show that there were 14 accidents in the three years prior to the current safety scheme, implemented in 1995, and just two accidents in the two years after.

Mr Cannon added: "With regards to recruitment, there has been a small turnover of personnel and none have expressed concerns for the safety of themselves or the children, and none have left for that reason.

"The solution already implemented in this area has proved to be the right one."

The area will continue to be routinely monitored by the Traffic Management Section.

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