COMMUNITY leaders are demanding council bosses improve road safety measures in Lostock Gralam after a 10-year-old girl was injured.

Lostock Parish Council has vowed to continue its fight for speed restrictions to be enforced around Townshend Road, Birches Lane and Manchester Road.

Calls for increased safety measures came after 10-year old Natasha Brown, of Langford Road, was injured in a collision last week.

Now, concerned parents have approached the parish council to ask for its support.

Chairman of the parish council Shaun Wells said: 'We have been fighting this for years and Cheshire County Council refuses to do anything.

'To put it bluntly, the council is saying that there has not been enough accidents!'

Cllr Ann McEllin, borough council-lor for Lostock, added: 'There are 50 places in Cheshire where the community wants speed calming measures and in 2003 we were at number 38.

'But the council chose the highest priority places by the number of accidents, so we have to wait until another child is injured - or even worse killed.

'It is a horrible thought that that would be the only thing that would cause Cheshire County Council to give us some safety measures.'

The mother of the child who was injured, Helen Brown, said: 'We are trying to get more signs to warn drivers there are children playing and get drivers to understand they have to slow down. We have a petition in Bargain Booze and hopefully we will achieve something.'

Lostock Gralam Primary School headteacher Cheryl Walton, is supporting the campaign.

Miss Walton said: 'Fortunately the pupil only suffered minor injuries last week, but families are concerned about a child getting really hurt - there is a lot of concern with the traffic using the estate as a cut-through to the main road.

'I will do all I can to help the residents but in the meantime the school is working on a Safer Routes to School campaign and we plan to get extra funding for resources to teach children about road safety.'

Cheshire County Council was unavailable for comment when the Chronicle went to press.