A plea has been made for safety improvements on a busy school road over fears someone could be killed.

County councillor Emma Williamson says the area around St Mary’s School on High Road, Kells, is a “death trap”, with cars speeding and huge amounts of traffic passing through.

It comes after police seized a car that was seen being driven erratically near the school.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of drug driving and his vehicle was taken away after he refused to move it from the zigzag lines in front of the school.

Coun Williamson said: “I just think it’s ridiculous. There’s too many cars speeding around the school. It’s not safe.

“A few years ago we had a young boy who got his jaw broken crossing the road. He was looking out and a van hit him.

“It’s a death trap. Residents are getting really fed up with it. I’m frightened someone is going to get killed.”

Coun Williamson said she was working with Cumbria County Council’s highways department to find a solution to the problem.

She said she would like to see a zebra crossing installed by the school and the bollards taken out, as motorists are driving on the opposite side of the road to avoid them.

“I have been fighting for this for three years. The problem is the amount of traffic, speeding and people having nowhere to park.

“I’ve had traffic cameras and the amount of traffic even in lockdown is ridiculous. There needs to be improvements before somebody is killed.

“This is a beautiful estate that’s family focused but there’s people coming here and they don’t care.”

She added that a traffic survey had also caught a car doing 60mph on the stretch of road, which has a part time 20mph speed limit.

The part time limit was introduced last year in a bid to reduce speeds outside the school.