THE grieving father of 12-year-old Charlotte Smith, who was killed in a collision while riding her bicycle, fears there will be another fatal accident unless moves are made to slow traffic down.

Peter Smith wants traffic calming measures introduced on the road through Lower Compton, where Charlotte died nearly two months ago while cycling with her best friend near her family home.

There was another crash on the road two weeks ago when a Badgerline bus carrying passengers to Bath collided with a Peugeot 106, causing minor injuries.

But Mr Smith fears that unless speed restrictions are put in place on the road, with warning signs and road calming features, such as speed bumps, it is only a matter of time before there is another fatal accident.

He said: "The road needs slowing down where the accident happened. The Ministry of Defence is selling off a lot of its houses in Lower Compton at the moment, which are more affordable and will attract a lot of young families with kids.

"This means there will be more children going on the road and with the increase in traffic it only needs one child to step out when a car is roaring down the road.

"My family and I are interested in any moves to slow the road down because if we can save anybody's life or help stop serious injuries it's something worth doing. And with the amount of traffic on the roads and winter approaching there's going to be another accident.

"It needs to be sorted out because that stretch of road is just becoming a racetrack.

"If a new recycling centre is built in the landfill site in Compton Bassett there will be even more traffic on that road."

Villagers have backed Mr Smith in calling for measures to slow down traffic.

One suggested Wiltshire County Council should build twists into the road creating a chicane effect, on stretches of the road where children are likely to be nearby.

Compton Bassett Youth Club leader Pauline Garrett, who lives in Lower Compton, said: "As a community we have a lot of children and the bus stop where children wait to go to school is very near to the place where Charlotte was killed.

"If there were some traffic calming built into the road at least people would be going that little bit slower, which could make all the difference."

A spokesman for Wiltshire County Council said if people in the village are concerned about road safety they should petition its environmental services department and the case would be considered in the annual review of road safety schemes in March and priority cases identified.

A police spokesman said there is little they can do until the police report is put before the coroner at the inquest into Charlotte's death, which could be some weeks away.

adavey@newswilts.co.uk