A CAMPAIGN for a zebra crossing on a “dangerous” road is a step closer after funding was agreed.

Residents have been calling for extra safety measures on Parkeston Road, in Dovercourt, in a bid to slow down speeding drivers.

Ivan Henderson, Essex county councillor for Harwich, said parents of children at nearby Spring Meadow Primary School had raised concerns about the safety of crossing the road.

He said as well as incidents of the crossing patrol lady being ignored and speeding, the road is a hazard outside of school times.

Work is now set to be done to look at how and where to put in a new zebra crossing.

Mr Henderson said: “I’ve been pushing for a zebra crossing on Parkeston Road for the schoolchildren, it’s dangerous that road. The officers on the Tendring Highways Panel said they would move it up the priority list and start the work.

“Planning and development work has been agreed to work out where it could be sited and the layout - all the funding is there for that.”

In 2013 a speed survey was agreed for the road by the highways panel.

The results prompted attempts to make the road safer with speed warning signs designed to enhance the existing school crossing patrol signs.

The signs advise motorists to drive at 20mph when the lights flash.

There were also no parking signs to stop dangerous parking on or near the zigzag lines.

But Mr Henderson added: “We needed this moved up, nothing else has worked to slow the traffic down and make it safe.

“And parents were saying it’s not just unsafe when the school is open, it’s unsafe all the time.

“There is a park across the road and a shop and there are after school things on when the crossing patrol isn’t there. They want a permanent solution.”

An Essex Highways spokesman said: “The Tendring Local Highway Panel has now decided to add this to the potential schemes list, with the intention to carry out a feasibility study in the financial year from April 1, 2019.”