A NEW petition has been launched calling for the county council to protect drivers and pedestrians by installing a crossing and redesigning a “very dangerous junction” in Worcester.

The latest petition comes six years after traffic issues at the junction of Bilford Road and Astwood Road were first raised - and councillors and members from the city’s Green Party want Worcestershire County Council to say the problem hasn't gone away.

Cllr Matthew Jenkins said: “We have been working with council officers to try and find a solution for quite a while. Traffic lights was one of the suggestions but that was not feasible.

“It is an ongoing issue and we have been raising it for a long time.

“It is a busy road at most times of the day, especially during rush hour. There are schools, a shop and the tip. Add all of that together and it becomes a problem.

“The focus for us is on safety but also tackling congestion as a secondary thing. Any political pressure that we can add, we will.”

Marjory Bisset, campaigner for Worcester Green Party, said: “It is a very dangerous junction both for pedestrians and car users.

“I believe there have been numerous other attempts to get the junction changed.

“Tudor Grange School is just up Bilford Road from the junction, and many pupils have to cross the road every day.

“It is a subject that comes up time and time again when we talk to residents in the area.”

Michael Astles, commenting on the online petition, said: “Since moving to a house right at this junction about five years ago, I have seen about eight fairly serious car collisions and an almost daily occurrence of near misses involving screeching of brakes and car-horns being sounded.

“Getting in and out of my house by foot, bike or car is very difficult due to a blind bend to the right on Astwood Road, and cars coming round it far too fast. Some kind of traffic calming is needed.”

The petition is the latest look at the problems plaguing the busy road over many years and is the next episode in the battle between the Green Party councillors and the county’s highways department.

Councillors Laurenson and Jenkins handed a petition with more than 360 signatures calling for the installation of a crossing at the same busy junction to the highways department at County Hall in 2012.

To view the petition visit ipetitions.com/petition/safety-astwood-road-bilford-road