Martha Seaward road death: Parents hit out at safety plans

The fatal accident happened near the Lodge Hill junction on the A148

The parents of a girl who was knocked down and killed by a lorry have said they are "shocked and stunned" by the council's plans to make the road safer.

Martha Seaward, 15, was run over after getting off a bus on the A148 in Upper Sheringham, Norfolk, in January 2014.

Her parents wanted a roundabout built to slow traffic but the county council said this would be too expensive and it is now considering having a path built.

The Seawards said the path would move pedestrians but not solve the problem.

Norfolk coroner Jacqueline Lake had asked the council to investigate ways of preventing further deaths on the road and report its findings to her by the end of March.

'Hard to justify'

In its report the council said a new roundabout had been considered but the cost of between £500,000 and £1m would be between a quarter to half of the annual road improvement budget for the coming year for the entire county.

Martha Seaward was hit after getting off a bus

Reducing the speed limit on the 60mph stretch would be "hard to justify on an open, rural main road with so little frontage development", it said.

The preferred option emerged as creating a path from the Lodge Hill bus stop to a crossing point further from the junction, and signs reminding bus users to take care crossing the main road.

Martha's mother Karen said: "They've done the very least they could do in response to the coroner's concerns.

"The optimum solution would have been a roundabout. Often speed limits aren't adhered to but a roundabout can't help but slow down traffic."