A WATERSIDE schoolgirl has criticised council bosses for spending £700,000 on a tourist attraction when safety improvements are needed on a nearby road which claimed the life of a pensioner.

Katie Dorritt, 13, lives just metres from the A326, where Frank Harrison, 83, was killed earlier this year.

Katie, of Roman Road, Dibden Purlieu, is backing a campaign to install a bridge or underpass to try to prevent more lives being lost.

She is angry that Hampshire County Council has given the go-ahead to plans costing hundreds of thousands of pounds on improving Hythe Promenade.

The Noadswood School pupil told the Daily Echo: "I think it's absolutely ridiculous that all that money is being spent because when you go down to the prom, you look out to sea and all you see are the skyscrapers in Southampton.

"Why improve that when you can go and make a road that so many people use every day much safer?"

Dog walkers, joggers and horseriders regularly cross the dangerous road to get access to Dibden Enclosure.

Frank Harrison, 83, of Noads Way, died in January after being hit by one of the 32,000 vehicles that use the road every day.

"I think it's really bad because if it has happened once, it can happen again," said Katie.

A county council spokesman said: "You cannot compare the two schemes because they come from different pots of money.

"We are certainly aware of the strength of public feeling about the A326 and the Casualty Reduction Partnership, the county council and the police, is looking at what measures might be appropriate along this busy road."