Every weekday, hundreds of children aged 4-19 from Eastbourne’s Gildredge House School walk along Compton Place Road to get to and from school.

Generally, it's a fairly quiet road, but at school drop-off and pick-up times, all that changes: it frequently becomes busy, congested, unpredictable and dangerous. Between Vicarage Road and Beechwood Crescent, it's a two-way road but, due to the parking on one side, it’s too narrow for two lanes of traffic. As a result, drivers often become agitated - when they see their path is clear, they speed to get through, driving erratically and often mounting the pavement.

Meanwhile, the pavement itself is very narrow and slopes hazardously towards the road.

It's an accident waiting to happen.

We're now calling on East Sussex County Council to:

1) Immediately take action to make the pavement between Vicarage Road and Beechwood Crescent safer. At the very least by installing a railing so that 1) Cars cannot mount the pavement, and 2) Children cannot fall into the road.

2) Carry out a full safety assessment of the use and lay-out of Compton Place Road, in consultation with local residents, parents and the school. Then put the necessary safety measures in place.

The combination of high traffic volumes, poor road layout, and a narrow, sloping pavement is putting hundreds of Gildredge House children and parents at risk every single school day.

East Sussex County Council has the ability and responsibility to protect our children from traffic. Please sign this petition, and ask them to help keep these children safe as they walk to and from school – now and for generations to come.

Thank you!