A determined schoolgirl has taken her fight for a pedestrian crossing straight to her MP.
Nicola Essex was so fed up with the daily fight across the busy Ipswich Road in Colchester that she decided to do something about it - by writing to Colchester MP Bob Russell urging him to help.
Yesterday Nicola and fellow Gilberd School pupils Emma Barton, 13, Gemma French, 13, and Rowena Betts, 12, met with Mr Russell, their borough councillor Alan Hayman and council highways engineer George Ward to make their voices heard.
The girls cross the Ipswich Road twice a day on their journey to the Gilberd and regularly have what they call "near misses".
An average of 18,000 vehicles use the road between 7am and 7pm. Nicola, 12, said: "There's such heavy traffic and trying to cross the road safely is really difficult."
A zebra crossing costs £6,000 to 12,000 and the Ipswich Road scheme is 17th in a list of 26 priorities.
But Liberal Democrat Mr Russell said today: "Nicola did the right thing - all four girls are absolutely brilliant for bringing such an important issue to the forefront."
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article