A BUSY road has been narrowed to cut accidents and reduce speeding.

Pupils at both Kingswood Infant School and Kingswood Junior School, in Clay Hill Road, Basildon, are set to benefit from £17,000 of traffic calming measures.

Calls were first made for Essex County Council to improve safety on the road six months ago, when a schoolgirl was knocked down by a car.

She was rushed to Basildon Hospital after running out into the road on her way to school, but fortunately escaped with minor injuries.

Site inspectors from County Hall have since visited the site and found the 30mph speed limit is regularly broken.

It comes as Basildon Council is trying to push ahead for 20mph zones to be set up outside all schools in the borough.

Andrew Gordon, Labour councillor for Nethermayne ward, said: “I’m hoping the two things together will really help.

“We will never be able to completely elimate danger but we can do little bits and bobs here and there.

“I know staff at the school and local PCSOs have been working together to highlight safety issues to parents.

“It is a busy road and we've also got the fact that the school is on a bend. To get to the school most people have to cross the road.

“I don’t believe in waiting until something terrible happens, we need to be proactive."

The road already had a footbridge and zebra crossing further along from the school, but these are rarely used.

The road narrowing scheme is likely to prevent parents parking up as they drop off or pick up their children, which has been blamed in the past for causing hazards.

A spokesman for Essex Highways said: “This scheme aims to manage traffic speeds on Clay Hill Road, outside Kingswood Infant and Junior Schools.

“The speed limit is currently 30mph but is sometimes not observed.

“Funding for the scheme has come via the local Highways Panel.”