THE death of a pensioner has sparked calls for more safety measures on a busy Winchester city centre road.

Gladys Waite, 90, died after she was in collision with a bus in St George's Street on December 28.

The incident happened close to the junction with Upper Brook Street, branded unsafe by community activists, MP Mark Oaten and city councillors.

Now the city residents' association is calling for new safety measures to prevent another death.

Chairman Alan Weeks said: "There needs to be a radical look at this. There should be greater consideration for pedestrians. It is a dangerous junction."

Among his ideas are lowering the speed limit from the widely-flouted 30 to 20mph, speed cameras and extending the barriers along St George's Street that would encourage people to use pedestrian crossings.

Mr Weeks suggested the road should be narrowed into a single lane in a similar way to the acclaimed revamp of Jewry Street. That move has calmed traffic and made life more pleasant for pedestrians.

One of the concerns about the junction is the way pedestrians on St George's Street have to watch for traffic coming from two directions.

David Croker, the local representative of the Pedestrians Association, said people were unable to see if traffic lights were red or green for drivers. "That brings uncertainty. If you introduce uncertainty, people will take risks."

Mr Croker, a former Tory city councillor and campaigner against the M3, called for local politicians to take a stance against cars.

"They never do anything to make it safer for people to walk about, rather than drive about.

"There is no political will. Councillors are so frightened that if they do something the motorist vote will be lost."

City councillor Ian Tait believes the dangerous situation should not have been allowed to arise in the first place. He said: "The buses should never have been allowed to come through the pedestrian precinct. They should use Friarsgate."