A BLIND man who has been knocked down three times on the same stretch of road in a York village is campaigning for a pedestrian crossing.

Steve Rhea, 53, has a hereditary condition of the optic nerve which has rendered him blind over time.

He walks with a white stick and says he has been hit three times on separate occasions over the last few years crossing York Road in Strensall.

Each time he claims the drivers left the scene without stopping and on one occasion he was caught underneath the car that hit him and dragged along the road.

Now he has joined fellow villager, Janice Wheller, 42, who is also registered blind and uses a white stick, in pushing for a pedestrian crossing to help stop anyone else suffering the same fate.

Steve said: “The traffic just goes so fast along there. They need to slow down and think.

“It takes longer for me to cross the road.

“I have been knocked down three times and each time the driver didn’t stop.

“On one occasion I got dragged along under the car for a few metres.

“I wasn’t seriously hurt thankfully, just very shaken up.”

Janice, who is known to her friends as Marie, said: “I want a zebra crossing and I’ve written to our MP, Julian Sturdy, who has said he will take it up with the council, but I haven’t heard anything since then.

“My friend’s little girl got knocked down on that road about three years ago when she was at Robert Wilkinson primary school.

“She broke her arm, but it could have been a lot worse.

“It’s the main road going in to the village and we’re sick of cars speeding along there.

“Something needs to be done.”

Strensall ward councillor, Paul Doughty, said: “I have requested a safe method of crossing several times over recent years where Sheriff Hutton Road meets York Road next to Boots in the centre of Strensall and also on York Road near to Barley Rise for access to the shops.

"I have even presented a petition at full council on behalf of residents in the past. On two occasions the relevant executive member (in 2016 and 2017) sought detailed reports from highways officers at the City of York Council who ultimately explained why they could not recommend a crossing at either location.”

Councillor Doughty added: “The council’s head of transport previously explained that ‘these schemes are prioritised using a number of factors (including the number of casualties) to ensure that they address concerns about road safety and are value for money’.

“We were told they were similar to other locations across the city in terms of risk.

"They acknowledged the factor that was raised about lines of sight with the presence of the hump backed bridge on Sheriff Hutton Road and they put in place what they thought was an “affordable intervention” ie warning signs to road users on approach.

"On York Road, some dropped kerbs with tactile surfacing were sanctioned by officers using ward funding to assist blind and partially sighted residents. I remain of the opinion that this money could have been better used towards the cost of a dedicated pedestrian crossing.”