VICTORY on two fronts could be just around the corner for campaigners fighting for vital safety measures on an infamous Hampshire village main road.

County highway chiefs will hear next month whether there will be enough government money in the pot for them to give the green light to rebuild the Botley High Street.

Meanwhile, their Eastleigh borough counterparts are finalising designs for a pelican crossing on the notorious A334, pictured earlier this year above right, outside the village primary school.

Both sets of measures have been the focus of hard-fought campaigns by village leaders and local residents fearing for the safety of children, pensioners and road users alike.

Those behind the protests are now looking forward to imminent developments.

County councillor June Watson has campaigned for years for improvement work on the busy road that suffers from a dangerous mix of peak-time jams and off-peak speeding.

Mrs Watson said: "I will be very pleased to see it done. I think it will help to slow the traffic down through the village.

"Poor old Botley, it does suffer from traffic. It is one of the worst in Hampshire.

"This scheme will go a little way to improving the situation."

Down the road, designs for a pelican crossing have almost been completed after the dangers to hundreds of primary school children were highlighted by concerned parents.

Leading campaigner and mother-of-five Angela Hillier, who lives in Winchester Street, said she could not celebrate until the crossing was actually in place.

But she added: "Hopefully it will be done this year. We want to thank everybody for their support and help and we hope to see the crossing in place very soon."

Since the dual campaigns were launched High Street has risen in the priorities of council chiefs.

A spokeswoman for the county council, which hopes work would start during the next financial year, said: "It is one of the top priority schemes in our programme but we will have to wait until December before we get confirmation of the money we will get from the government."

A spokesman for Eastleigh borough council said: "Staff from engineering services, in partnership with the county council's highway team, are finalising designs for the proposed pelican crossing."