FEARS for the safety of pupils going to two schools on the same site have been raised by concerned neighbours.

Residents in the west end of Hexham have formed a steering group, Hydro Neighbourhood Group, to raise concerns, primarily over traffic congestion and safety, because of plans by Hadrian Learning Trust to bring its two schools, Queen Elizabeth High and Hexham Middle, on to a shared site at the current high school.

Following the recent submission of a planning application to demolish existing buildings and construct new ones to accommodate the move, members of the group met on Tuesday evening where they expressed their worries about 600 additional pupils and staff from the middle school accessing the high school site.

Group member Sarah Marshall said: “It’s a massive development, and it’s the scale of it which is really important to everybody. There are traffic concerns, primarily, and also around sustainability and the heritage of the Hydro building and the walled garden.

“More than 600 pupils and staff will be coming into this area and we will have all the traffic consequences which come with that.

“Everybody wants new, better school facilities, and we are not against them, but, as neighbours, it has an impact on our daily lives and we feel the current problems with traffic will only worsen.

“By adding all those people to the site only increases the likelihood of an accident happening.”

The group also wanted to raise concerns about extra traffic congestion, arguing that the school entrance at Whetstone Bridge Road was already busy.

Sarah said: “The conclusions of the transport assessment would appear to defy reality. Road users in the area already experience considerable problems from school traffic, many of which were detailed to the developers at the recent drop-in sessions.”

The new school buildings will cost an estimated £36m, with Northumberland County Council to provide £23m of its funding.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “All views expressed during the pre-planning consultation have been carefully considered.

“A planning application has now been submitted and the detailed documentation includes a study and report prepared by a highways specialist.

“All views expressed through the planning process will be considered by the planning committee.”

The deadline for comments is October 31.