Pupil power is winning a seven-year battle for better road safety measures outside an Oxford school.

Children from Windale Primary School in Blackbird Leys have presented their arguments to county councillors, who have noted their concerns about speeding traffic along the 30mph-limit Windale Avenue, the lack of cycle paths and inadequate road markings.

Earlier complaints from school governors and staff had gone unheeded.

Now improvements could be on the way, following a presentation by six of the children to an environmental conference at County Hall in November. The children spent two terms investigating complaints about the amount of traffic passing their school gates.

The conference featured presentations by pupils from 16 Oxford schools.

Representatives attending the event were so impressed by the Windale team that they asked them to repeat their presentation to councillors and highways officers on a visit to the school in October. Headteacher Mary Whitlock said: "We want our children to walk to school as it is healthy and environmentally sound, but they can't as it is too dangerous.

"We wanted people to know the problems they face. The school is on one of the area's worst junctions, and the road is used as a rat run. It is a tiny road, but links two estates and is a major bus route.

"There are no warning signs, no school signs, no cycle ways, no kerbs and no markings saying where traffic and pedestrians should be.

"Traffic-calming measures just add to the problem, as drivers take more risks on the narrow road to get past each other. The children tell me it's scary. They feel very threatened.

"It is a wonder children haven't been killed. It is an accident waiting to happen."

She hoped the meeting with transport chiefs would lead to swift results. She said: "It has taken six children to do what the governors have been trying to do for years."

Among those impressed by the pupils' work was the county council's school travel plans officer, Philippa Davison. She said: "These pupils really demonstrated that the best way to resolve an issue is to research it well and present the findings to those who can provide the best solutions.

"With citizenship having just become a requirement of the National Curriculum, I hope the children from Windale Primary School will learn from their experiences how local government works."

David Robertson, the county council's executive member for transport and highways said: "This is an excellent example of how the county council is listening to the voices and concerns of young people.

"The majority of schools have road markings, but obviously this is one that doesn't."

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