A COMMUNITY leader is calling for school drop offs and pick ups to be made safer at a Barrow school.

Paul Griffiths, founder of the Roosecote Community Hub Facebook group, has been made aware of issues with drivers parking on the zig zags outside of Roose Community Primary School.

He said: "Parking outside the school is a problem that seems to rear its head once the weather changes. Once the cold and rain starts a lot of people start using cars and don't want to walk that little bit of distance.

"I know the school have done one or two things by putting signs out on the road but that doesn't seem sufficient because people are still doing it."

Paul feels particularly passionate about the parking situation because when his youngest daughter was at school she had been clipped by a car.

He said: "I've got a personal connection and empathy with the problem. Fortunately she (daughter) wasn't injured, she got clipped because there were cars parked on the zig zags."

He wrote a post in the Roosecote Community Hub asking for thoughts on a scheme which partially and temporarily closes off the road outside the school during drop-off and pick-up times.

After receiving great feedback, he was contacted by Cumbria County Council councillor Derek Gawne who explained that a similar scheme was already being trialled in Askam.

The School Streets Initiative places a temporary restriction on motorised traffic at school drop-off and pick-up times on the road outside of a school.

Mr Griffiths said: "What Cllr Derek Gawne told me was that the trial is for six months. I believe after talking to Derek that there's about another five schools in Cumbria also trialling this and at the end of the trial they will assess whether it has been a success and then potentially roll it around different areas.

"Because we flagged it up and Derek had seen the amount of interest in the scheme, he has put Roose School forward for the next phase."

Cllr Derek Gawne said: "It is being trialled at Askam School. Once the trial is completed then we will be looking at other places."

Jenny Redhead, headteacher of Roose School, said: "Like other schools across the country, traffic in the mornings can be an issue. We encourage our pupils to walk to school where possible and a member of staff usually stands outside at the gate, which deters people from parking on the zigzags."