PARENTS are being urged to sign a petition demanding action be taken to protect children outside a Worcester school.

The appeal comes after a nine-year-old boy was thrown through the air in a road accident as he made his way to St George's Primary School, in St George's Lane North.

Louise Keys, whose son attends the school, is trying to encourage parents and nearby residents to sign a petition, which she plans to hand over at a full meeting of Worcestershire County Council next month.

"It is extremely dangerous," said Mrs Keys, of Flag Meadow Walk.

"In the morning it is the worst, because there is commuter traffic coming down St George's Walk, so the lollipop lady has to walk children across two busy roads - St George's Walk and St George's Lane North.

"We are one of the few schools in the area that has no traffic calming measures in place or a designated pelican or zebra crossing. The school's headteacher, Steve Mills, said it was unfortunate that it took a child to be knocked over in order for the issue to be addressed.

The boy was taken to hospital following the accident on Monday, October 11, but fortunately he did not suffer serious injuries.

"It was quite a nasty accident," said Mr Mills.

He said one of the problems was the amount of traffic that went past the school to Bishop Perowne High School, on Merriman's Hill.

The other problem is parents not being able to park to drop their children off. Instead, they are being forced to turn into Henry Street, which is a cul-de-sac.

"There is no way out of Henry Street so there is some dangerous manoeuvring going on."

"This is a problem that I have tried to address over the last few years, particularly the problem in Henry Street."

Last month, Worcestershire County Council discussed the possibility of imposing 20mph zones outside every school in the county.

The area's city and county councillors, Rob Peachey and Mary Drinkwater, who visited the school on Friday, October 15, to see the situation for themselves, will meet council officers in November.

"It is a very dangerous and difficult point but Rob Peachey and I are working closely together and we are going to have this meeting to see what can be done," Coun Drinkwater said.