PARENTS of pupils at a Didcot primary school campaigning for a new pedestrian crossing to help keep pupils safe as they walk to and from school have been warned there is no money in the budget.

Cars parked near Willowcroft Community School in Mereland Road are said to be making it dangerous for families to cross the road when pupils are being dropped off or picked up from classes.

Headteacher Jane Hemery said some pupils were arriving for classes upset due to “near misses”, but campaigners have been warned funding for a new crossing is not available.

Mereland Road is also home to St Birinus, the secondary state school for boys, but there are no facilities to help pupils from either school cross the road.

Mum-of-two Katie Haskins, 28, of Green Close, Didcot, has launched a petition calling for the new crossing.

Her daughter Holly, five, attends the primary school, and she and her husband Paul, 31, also have a son George, three, who attends the nursery on the school site.

Mrs Haskins said: “There are about 330 pupils at Willowcroft, and about 1,200 pupils at St Birinus, so I think a new crossing would be well worth spending the money on.

“A lot of traffic uses that road, including the buses that go to the boys’ school. It gets very busy.

“Some drivers park on the paths and pavements and that makes it hard to see if it is safe to cross or not.

“I have put up posters in the local shops urging people to sign my petition and already I have got about 300 names. I’m aiming for 1,000 before I present it to the county council.

“I know the council is facing cuts but if the council cannot pay for a crossing it should at least fund a lollipop lady.”

Ms Hemery urged parents to back Mrs Haskins’ campaign.

She said: “Without a school crossing patrol the pupils from both the primary and secondary school struggle to cross safely.

“We have already had children come to school in the morning, upset due to near misses while crossing the road.

“We understand that budgets are tight – for all of us – but children’s safety has got to be paramount.

“We are grateful to all the parents who are raising the awareness of this hazardous situation.”

After county councillor Patrick Greene lobbied for the crossing on Mrs Haskins’ behalf, Anthony Kirkwood, of the county council’s road safety engineering team, said in an email: “Having checked possible funding sources, it does not appear that there are any available budgets at present to pay for a crossing here.

“While we will keep this matter under review should there be any change in the funding situation, I would not want to raise unrealistic expectations on this changing in the foreseeable future.”

Mr Kirkwood added there had been no accidents involving injuries on the road, in the area of the school, in the past five years.

To take part in the petition vist change.org/p/south-oxfordshire-district-council-safe-crossing-for-willowcroft