Derbyshire: Parent's anger after crash barrier left damaged

The metal barrier outside Stanton Primary School is badly bent with pieces missing after it was hit by a vehicle

A parent has accused a council of being "disinterested" in road safety after it left a crash barrier outside a school badly damaged for three months.

The metal barrier outside Stanton Primary School in Derbyshire was left badly bent with pieces missing after it was hit by a vehicle in September.

Derbyshire County Council said it would make repairs as soon as possible.

But parent Tracey Wond said she believed the repairs should have already been completed.

She said: "It is a concern that safety concerns aren't being taken seriously.

"The traffic on that road is very different from pre-Covid, it is now a busy route for lorries, so the risk has changed and it doesn't seem that has been taken into account.

"There are lorries from Willshee's and there is the new pallet warehouse.

"The people responsible for road safety, the council, seem disinterested. Somebody could die and they are being quite negligent."

'Frustration'

The school sits on the Woodland Road stretch of the A444 in a 30mph (48km/h) zone and Mrs Wond said she and other parents had previously called for a pedestrian crossing and a school patrol.

But the council has refused because there is no pavement running alongside the road opposite the school.

A spokesperson added the authority had installed a number of safety measures near the school, including speed cameras, flashing school warning signs and a no stopping order.

The council also told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it would repair the damaged barrier "as soon as possible", but did not provide a timeframe.

Ms Wond said: "It is so bizarre, we are not asking for a crossing right outside the school but slightly further up the road, where there are pavements on both sides.

"We could have crossings further up either side of the school, just like other schools on A-roads have. Other schools on less dangerous routes have crossings but we don't.

"Why are schools which are already safer given safety improvements and we, where we have the bigger risk, are not? It is a frustration."