Calls for action over ‘danger’ road outside Leighton Buzzard school

A campaigning headmaster is calling again for action over what he considers a dangerous road outside his school.

Vandyke Upper School head Tim Carroll and South West Beds MP Andrew Selous have been urging Central Bedfordshire Council to introduce a 20mph zone and a school warning sign on a sharp bend on Vandyke Road which they say impacts on the safety of more than 2,000 children at Vandyke and Gilbert Inglefield Academy.

Visiting Vandyke Upper School again last week, Mr Selous said: “The sharp bend on Vandyke Road needs a school warning sign and ideally a 20mph limit around the bend to keep the students safe, as other schools have. We also need to link up the footpath in front of Seddon Gardens to the existing footpath to provide proper pedestrian access for students who live the other side of the road from the school. It is only a short join up through a small copse which is needed.”

Mr Carroll has been raising concerns about the road after changes to its layout two years ago. He said: "The entrance to the school is too close to the bend and recent fencing put up has worsened the sight lines still further. The road is also too narrow so that most vehicles come round the bend touching or over the white lines in the middle the road."

He raised the issue again with Mr Selous in August last year who said he would be writing to CBC calling for urgent safety measures to be introduced.

Parents of youngsters at the school have also added their concerns. In July the LBO reported campaigners had launched a petition over road safety concerns with residents calling for a 20mph speed restriction in Vandyke Road.

They said there had been numerous accidents due to speeding vehicles damaging parked cars, and risk to safety of pedestrians. They also argued the road has become a 'rat run' into town due to extensive development of new housing estates in the area.

Central Beds Council said it had carried out surveys and traffic analysis on the road and that work to improve the area could take place in 2024/25.