SCORES of children have been injured due to road ‘chaos’ at Oxfordshire primary schools, but a councillor said this does not warrant peak-time traffic bans.

Between 2008 and 2017 there were 58 recorded incidents of children injured in collisions near county primary schools – six of which were serious – during drop-off and pick-up.

Oxfordshire County Council revealed the figures in response to fresh concerns about dangerous school runs.

But a senior councillor said a potential solution trialled elsewhere, to ban traffic outside schools during certain times, will not help.

Wolvercote and Summertown councillor, Paul Buckley, requested injury statistics ahead of a meeting last week.

In a written submission he said: “A problem raised by residents is vehicle congestion and potential danger to young children [at schools].

“Some authorities are trialling schemes to impose short-term temporary closures of roads next to primary schools at these critical times, where this can be done without adverse effect on other traffic.”

Such a scheme is running at three schools in Solihull.

However councillor Yvonne Constance, the council’s cabinet member for environment, said Oxfordshire statistics equated to about 0.05 accidents per year per school.

In response to Mr Buckley she wrote: “These account for around five per cent of the total injuries sustained by children in road traffic accidents.

“It would not appear likely that short-term temporary closures of roads next to primary schools would make a significant contribution to reducing the risk of injury.

“Such action may displace traffic to areas near the closure points and increase risk in those areas.”

Statistics included roads within 250-metres of schools, excluding A and B roads.

In October headteachers shared concerns about dangerous traffic and parking with the Oxford Mail.

A Cowley resident has since complained about traffic outside Church Cowley St James CE Primary School.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s terrible - sometimes you can’t even walk on the pavement.

“It’s absolute chaos.

Wolvercote School wrote to parents last month about safety and the risk posed by parking on zigzag lines.

It said some parents had refused to move when the caretaker urged them to.

St Barnabas School CE Primary School in Jericho has painted fresh lines outside to mark prohibited areas.

Headteacher Fiona Hawkins wrote to parents before the Easter break stating the situation was better, but she was still having to cone off double-yellow lines.