RESIDENTS in Southbrook Street in Ferndale are worried a child is going to be killed outside their front doors.

They have been campaigning for Swindon Council to make the road safer and stop cars illegally parking on both sides of the road.

And they fear the council are going to wait until the summer holidays before they act when most of the cars causing problems will not be there.

A campaign group from Southbrook Street has handed a petition to the council asking for safety measures on the road.

Around 90 per cent of the residents are supporting the campaign and are desperate for the council to act.

But, almost a month later, nothing has happened.

Sarah Maisey, a contracts manager, has lived in the street for 16 years. The 39-year-old has four children, Gemma 14, Kirstie-Elle, nine, and twins Hannah and Lauren, seven.

She lives opposite the Oxford Brookes University site.

She said: "The other week a 4x4 car and another car were parked over the entrance of the university.

"A child walked out and another car was coming. It had to brake really hard not to hit her.

"It was such a near miss. This road is so dangerous."

There are 40 homes in Southbrook Street and the narrow street ends in a dead end.

Residents say it has traffic clogging it up from parents dropping their children off at school, university students parking there for free, people going to All Saints Church and parents dropping children off at Poppies Day Nursery and Ferndale Community Centre and Youth Club.

Mrs Maisey said: "One day I was trying to park and a child disappeared behind my car.

"I had to get out and check where they were because they could not see past the parked cars.

"I don't understand why the council haven't been up here to see what it's like. Children have to dive in and out of cars. The council need to show us what they are doing."

Barbara Sheppard, who has also lived in the street for 16 year, wants the council to survey the road to see how dangerous it is.

The 56-year-old retired teacher said: "I don't know why we can't have a scheme, which lets residents park here only."

But in April the council said it could not introduce parking permits in just one street.

Miss Sheppard said: "The council will not look at anything new. It's like the Little Britain 'computer says no' attitude."

Swindon Council spokesman, Gavin Calthrop said: "A response to the petition has been sent out from the council's Traffic Manage-ment and Road Safety team. Traffic surveys will be carried out in October of this year.

"The university is in the process of breaking up for the summer and will not have a full complement of students again until the end of September.

"The concerns raised are being treated very much as a road safety issue and we thank the residents for bringing this to our attention."

Lyndsay Scanlan