A RENEWED effort is being made to get a pedestrian crossing outside a Banbury school, amid safety fears.

Oxfordshire county councillor Keith Strangwood has earmarked money for a crossing outside William Morris Primary School, in Bretch Hill, and now needs to convince highways engineers that it is needed.

The plan was rejected by the council in 2010 due to spending cuts. Officers said there had been no accidents outside the school in the past five years.

But parents and councillors said there had been a number of near-misses involving pupils crossing the road and kept up the pressure for action.

Mr Strangwood said: “It’s to save lives. We have had too many near-misses up there.”

The Conservative member for Banbury Ruscote said: “I have to convince them it’s a priority – it obviously is a priority.”

He wants to use money from a fund given to each councillor, due to rise from £6,250 this year to £25,000 in the next financial year, starting next month.

One parent said: “There used to be a lollipop lady, which was brilliant, because they could be seen across the road.

“There’s going to be a bad accident here, I know it.”