A RIBBLE Valley councillor who was seriously injured after being knocked down by a car has called for mandatory pedestrian crossings outside every school in Lancashire.

Cllr Ged Mirfin was airlifted to the Royal Blackburn Hospital last October after colliding with a car in Whalley Road, Billington, while walking his son to school.

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He suffered serious head injuries and broke his leg in two places.

Since then he’s lobbied Lancashire County Council for a zebra crossing to be installed outside St Augustine’s RC High School.

And he has now submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request to arm himself with further details of the number, cost and impact of pedestrian crossings across the whole of Lancashire.

Cllr Mirfin said: “It should be mandatory to have a fixed crossing in place outside every school situated on a busy road in Lancashire.

“I have bitter experience of this issue and I have submitted this FOI request to arm myself with the facts and figures.

“The reasons being put forward are getting in the way of public safety. Does someone have to be killed for something to be done?”

Road bosses at County Hall said they took pedestrian safety very seriously and would provide crossings where there was a justifiable need.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: “We take road safety very seriously and are committed to providing crossings where that is justified by the level of pedestrian and traffic movements, and the potential risk to pedestrians.

“We use nationally recognised, tried and tested methods to carry out traffic surveys to inform our judgements on whether a pedestrian facility is needed in a location.

“The survey carried out on Whalley Road showed that the level of traffic and pedestrian movements fell short of the levels required to justify further investigation of a formal crossing.

“This is supported by further observations carried out with the police.

“It was evident that there were sufficient gaps between vehicles to allow pedestrians to cross safely.”