A COMMUNITY has been divided by proposals to move a bus stop in a village near York, amid fears that the suggested new location is "an accident waiting to happen."

City of York Council is consulting residents on whether the bus stop on the mini-roundabout in Strensall Road, Earswick, should be moved 55 metres north of Willow Grove.

Coun Sian Wiseman said she was asked by residents living alongside the stop if it could be relocated.

They say they are objecting to the number of children who group together by the entrances to their gardens while they wait for the bus to take them to school in the morning.

Coun Wiseman, who represents Strensall ward, said cars were getting stuck behind the bus where it currently stopped.

She said: "A lot of people use the road from Strensall, so they are affected by the bus - they get caught up behind the bus because it's on the roundabout."

She said the city council would not have funding to erect a shelter at the proposed new location.

But Earswick parish councillor Pat Norman said most of the residents in the village would prefer the stop to remain where it was.

"It's safer for the children - they've got more standing room, and it's safer for elderly people crossing the road, because they've got an island in the middle of the road where the bus stop is now."

Coun Norman said moving the stop to near Willow Grove would be "completely ridiculous".

He said of the proposal: "It's an accident waiting to happen. The speed of the traffic there is too fast, and even if they tried to put a bus shelter up there would still be too many children to fit in the shelter."

A spokeswoman for City of York Council said it had received a request through the Earswick ward committee to look into the issue.

She said: "The council is currently consulting local residents on whether the southbound bus stop currently opposite Village Road, Earswick, should be moved 55 metres north of Willow Grove."

The authority could move the stop north of Willow Grove, but if that were to happen it would need to look at funding options for a shelter there.