PARISH councillors have joined the fight for safety improvements at an Oxford road junction.

Old Marston Parish Council has written a letter to every member of Oxfordshire County Council saying its members believe the decision not to improve a crossing in Oxford Road, Marston, was unacceptable.

The county council said it had only a “finite” amount of money in its highways budget, adding there had not been an accident at the junction of Oxford Road and Cherwell Drive since 1979.

Parish council chairman Charlie Haynes said: “It’s an extremely busy crossing.

“Oxfordshire County Council has been rather reluctant to address the problem and we as a parish council aren’t particularly happy with this response.”

In October last year, grandfather Pat Abbott, 65, quit his job as a lollipop man at the junction after just six weeks, when he was almost run over.

He said a series of near-misses with cars had left him questioning the safety of the role.

Mr Haynes added: “When children are going or returning from school, the crossing is especially busy. We’re urging the county council to do something there to ensure the safety of the pupils.

“We’re determined to get something done.”

Hundreds of children cross the road on their way to St Nicholas’ Primary School, and Cherwell School, in Marston Ferry Road.

Mother-of-four Renata Lanzoni crosses the junction each day with children Julie, eight, and Karen, seven, and has been campaigning for extra safety measures, such as a zebra crossing and installing pedestrian warning lights, for several years.

She said: “I’m delighted that the parish council has got on board.

“Things have gone really quiet over the past month and I’m still not getting any answers. It can be quite a lonely fight sometimes.

“We need to keep up the fight and make sure the council takes action.”

Mrs Lanzoni said she was convinced a child would be seriously injured at the junction if nothing was done.

She said: “We can’t wait for an accident to happen.

“We need to take action to prevent them.”

Highways officers, city and county councillors and police met at the crossing in December.

Rodney Rose, the county council’s cabinet member for transport implementation, said: “Our road safety team has been receiving several emails from school parents who genuinely feel very strongly about this issue.

“The county council’s resources are finite. We have to make absolutely sure money is spent wisely and will bring about desired improvement.

“One of the criteria for judging whether action is needed is the injury record on a stretch of road.

“In the case of this junction, where a crossing has been requested, there has not been a single pedestrian injury accident since records began in 1979.”

He added: “Despite this, our road safety team has said to residents that it will look closely at all the factors and decide whether action should be taken and, if so, what kind.

“That assessment will take place within the county council’s current overall audit of road safety issues affecting children in Oxfordshire.”