A teenage French exchange student was today critically ill in hospital after being struck by a car near her host family's home.

Charlotte Esciande, 13, from Paris, was struck as she crossed the road in The Avenue, Kennington, at the junction with Manor Grove on Friday. She had been staying with a family in the village while she studied English at EF Language Travel in London Place, Oxford.

Charlotte's parents have flown from France to be with their daughter, who is being treated at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

Following the tragic accident, it emerged that people in Kennington had repeatedly stressed their concerns about traffic in the village. They have been pressing for a speed camera at the very spot Charlotte was hit.

Kennington parish clerk George Ross said: "We had a long campaign over ten or 15 years and eventually, about seven years ago, they put humps in but they didn't put them all the way up the village.

"They put them about two thirds of the way up and the section where the little girl was hit did not have any. "We have been asking the county to extend the humps which they have said is not possible but there is a second alternative to have a speed camera almost exactly where the young girl was hit."

Mr Ross said drivers coming through the humped area get frustrated at the speed limit and so accelerate once they leave the area. But he added that he thought this would not have played a part in the accident as the car was travelling in the other direction from Radley towards Oxford.

He added: "It's a particularly nasty area. The parish council continue to be concerned about this area outside the confines of the road humps and we would like a speed camera there."

Anyone who saw the accident is asked to contact the police on 01993 893924. *A motorist died and a cab driver was seriously injured in a two-car smash near Henley. A 27-year-old man, driving a VW Golf crossed into the path of the taxi on the A321 towards Wargrave early yesterday. He died at the scene. The taxi driver, Nathan Jones, 35, from Charville, in Berkshire, is in hospital in Reading with serious injuries.

*A man died after a smash on the B4035 at Upper Tadmarton, near Banbury, last night. The man, in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene. He has not been named.

Story date: Monday 01 March

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