THE road outside Rufforth Primary School has been described as an 'accident waiting to happen' by a concerned parent.

Tracy Hurst, who has children at the school, said: "We've had a number of foggy mornings lately and the crossing is all but invisible.

"With the chicanes being where they are, people speed up to get through, and there are near misses daily. Our lollipop lady is off at the moment, but she's had her stick clipped a few times."

The road in question is the B1224. There is a zebra crossing outside the school with belisha beacons.

Most schools in York have 20 mph restrictions on adjacent roads, but this has not been implemented on this road for a number of reasons including the fact that the road is classed as a key traffic route.

There should be two 'vehicle activated signs' that flash when drivers are travelling at over 30 mph, but according to Ms Hurst these are either missing or not working properly.

She is now calling for better signage in the village and for new LED lighting to be put in place to make the crossing more visible.

She added: "I've got emails dating back to 2011, so this has been going on for four years and nothing has been done."

Tony Clarke, head of transport at City of York Council, said: "We take the safety of school pupils, parents and carers very seriously.

"Over the past five years there has been no recorded casualty accidents at this crossing and one isolated incident which happened over 15 months ago.

"The site has been regularly visited and checked since then, and an investigation has been carried out and measures have been put in place to further improve safety at this crossing.

"Unfortunately the School Crossing Patroller is currently on long term sick leave, therefore if a parent or member of the local community would like to take on the role please email school.patrol@york.gov.uk."

In 2013, The Press reported concerns by other Rufforth residents about vehicles speeding through the village and mounting pavements on the road.