Campaigners have renewed their appeal to Oxfordshire County council to install a pelican crossing near a busy road used by schoolchildren.

Earlier this month, the Oxford Mail reported that parents and governors at split-site St Mary and St John School, in east Oxford, took to the street in their drive to improve safety for pupils.

For more than a year they have been calling for traffic-calming measures at the Iffley Road junction of Percy Street and Daubney Road - where children have to cross between the two sites used by the school.

Their fears were heightened after a five-year-old pupil, Daniel Painter, was hit by a car while on the way home after breaking away from his au pair as they were crossing the road. He escaped with minor injuries.

In the latest move, the chairman of the school governors, Ruth Conway, presented a petition with 500 names requesting urgent action at a meeting of the city council's east area parliament.

Mrs Conway said: "Following the accident, the headteacher and I wrote to David Robertson (Oxfordshire's executive member for transport) detailing the long history of our request for this crossing. The answer from the officer is the same line that they have taken all along, that it is low down on their priorities."

Parliament chairman Craig Simmons said the committee's offer to pay for a crossing out of its own funds had been rejected. The committee has also offered to pay for an officer to carry out the work.

But Mr Robertson said: "The scheme has been assessed and it is not a priority, although we have agreed to assess it again. I get regular petitions and appeals for schemes to be included in the programme and I can't just accede to them all. Until it reaches a high priority it won't be done."