The lives of Telford schoolchildren are being put at risk by motorists after yobs uprooted safety bollards near a school for the second time this year, a parent has claimed.
David Riddell said he had recently spotted cars driving along Limekiln Lane, Wellington, near Shortwood Primary School, which his nine-year-old son Matthew attends.
Children are being exposed to the dangers of passing traffic because bollards - placed across the width of Limekiln Lane to prevent it being used as a through route - are no longer there to stop traffic, he said.
Now Mr Riddell wants the “never mind the bollards” attitude of some drivers to stop before someone is hurt.
Smaller cars have been the worst offenders, he said, after he caught several sneaking past the remaining bollards to travel along Limekiln Lane.
He added that where once there were seven bollards, now there are five.
But his biggest concern was the sight of vans creeping past by “mounting the kerb”.
Mr Riddell, of Festival Gardens, Arleston, said: “We’ve always had bollards there but somebody has been ripping them out and throwing them over the hedge. We are now getting through traffic at school time.
“My concern is that my partner and I have seen smaller cars get through.
“But bigger vans are managing it too by mounting the kerb and using the footpath.
“The other danger is that someone could come a cropper because there are holes in the ground where the bollards were fixed in.
Shortcut
“The bollards were probably taken out by people who want to skip the traffic lights on Holyhead Road and use it as a shortcut to get to Dawley Road.”
He added that he reported the removal of the bollards to Telford & Wrekin Council, the highways authority, which has yet to replace them.
In June the traffic-calming measures were targeted by vandals and hurled into nearby fields before being replaced with temporary bollards by the council.
David Morgan, spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said the problem had been reported to the council and that a maintenance team would replace the bollards.
