PARENTS and staff are waiting to hear the outcome of their campaign for dangerous roads outside the school to be made safe for children to cross.

The two-year battle has resulted in an application to the government's Safer Routes to School programme, which is designed to protect children coming to school without using cars.

A petition with nearly 400 names has been collected to show Birmingham City Council's transportation department the strength of feeling among the school community.

They are calling for a pelican or zebra crossing, or a lollipop lady to ensure that cars stop to allow children across.

Campaigners were shocked when, at a meeting with transport representatives from the city council, they said "not enough accidents have happened" to warrant a crossing.

In the last five years, five children have died on the roads in and around the estate where the school is sited.

Nine months ago, a boy was injured when he was hit by a Land Rover.

This accident spurred on the school community to draw up its petition.

Headteacher Joan Wheeler said she felt optimistic about the Safer Routes to School programme.

"It's been a two-year battle, but now, with this new application, we're hopeful that something will happen," she said.

"There are no crossings on the estate so ours is the biggest need in the area. They've run out of excuses."