A WORRIED mum has launched a one-woman crusade to get a safe crossing point outside a busy Chandler's Ford school.

Caroline Brown, of Osborne Drive, Chandler's Ford, decided to launch a petition after seeing problems day after day as hundreds of children took risks in an attempt to get to Toynbee School.

After only five weeks, 40-year-old Mrs Brown has already netted 800 signatures for her petition, which will be presented to the November 13 meeting of Eastleigh council's Chandler's Ford and Hiltingbury local area committee.

She said: "I can't believe the response. It has been fantastic - but people are so concerned about this."

Every day Mrs Brown walks her daughters, Melissa, 11, and Jessica, 8, to Fryern Junior School in Oakmount Road and says that over the past couple of years the traffic has increased and got faster.

Because there is no identified crossing point, children can be seen trying to cross the road virtually along its entire length.

"There are no parking restrictions anywhere from Leigh Road up to the bend, so parents or anybody can double park along the road and there are no dropped kerbs other than driveways, so to cross the road on foot you have to cross a grass verge."

Mrs Brown said the road was already a main route and anticipated that more drivers would be using it when the new Waitrose supermarket at Fryern opened shortly.

She said she was also worried about the elderly and added: "How there have not been more accidents I don't know."

Her petition calls for a safe crossing point to be provided - but she commented: "It doesn't have to be a pelican crossing - an island would mean you could get halfway across."

Local borough councillor Ernest Pullen described the situation as "an accident waiting to happen" and said he had raised the matter with the Eastleigh Road Safety Council.

"One entrance into Toynbee School is from Oakmount Road. The situation around 8.40 each morning is chaotic. There is a continuous line of very slow-moving traffic waiting to join Leigh Road.

"Cars come in the opposite direction and stop to drop their offspring near the school entrance. Many of them make a U-turn at the entrance to Carisbrook Crescent in order to retrace their journey.

"I saw one vehicle this morning mount the verge to pass such a car and continue its route along Oakmount Road.

"Among this chaos, children need to dodge the traffic to cross Oakmount Road to reach their school. Surely there must be a way of providing a pedestrian crossing before a fatality occurs."

People wishing to sign the petition can find copies in local schools and at the Safeway store in Chandler's Ford.