Boy's campaign for zebra crossing outside school

A boy has launched a campaign for a zebra crossing to be installed outside his former school to prevent "something bad" from happening.

Leo, 11, said there was currently nowhere safe to cross outside Kimberworth Community Primary School in Rotherham.

Concerned that someone may get hurt, he has started an online petition for a new crossing.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council said to improve road safety, it had narrowed the carriageway and introduced a 20mph speed limit during school drop-off times.

The council said the school also had a crossing patrol, while pupils were given road safety lessons.

Leo said there were many children who struggled to cross the road safely in the area.

"There is just nowhere safe to cross because you get people driving really fast, really unsafely, dangerously up that road," he said.

"If it stays as it is, something bad is going to happen, which we don't want."

Leo's mum Lisa Bellamy agreed, saying people ignored road signs and lights during school drop-off times.

She told the BBC: "It's just an accident waiting to happen."

While Leo no longer attended the primary school, Ms Bellamy said getting the zebra crossing installed remained a top priority for her son.

"He moved to secondary school to Winterhill and actually needs to cross the road where he wants the crossing installed to get to school."

To date, Leo's petition has been signed by more than 800 people but his mum said 2,000 signatures from people living within the Rotherham postal code area were needed before it could go before the council.

Asked how he would feel if his petition was successful, he said: "I'd be so, so happy because everyone would be safe and I'd be really proud."

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.