A WORRIED mum says she is scared for her children's safety on what she calls a 'death trap' road.

Tara Wright, 33, of Hexham, says she fears more accidents will happen on Allendale Road, as she says she has witnessed drivers doing 'frightening speeds' in the area.

The mum-of-two said: "There is a huge problem with speeding on the road. I live just slightly up past the school zone and coming down they can be doing anywhere from 40-50-60mph it’s frightening.

"If a car then comes hurtling past it’s disorientating. The road is a nightmare. A number of us residents also have blind driveways.

"This has been an issue for years but because of Allendale Road becoming busier it’s becoming a much bigger issue."

Although some safety measures, instigated by Cllr Derek Kennedy have been put into place, such as two speed measuring signs and part-time speed signs during school hours, Tara does not believe it is enough, especially with the new school opening.

Hexham Middle School has now moved onto the same site at Queen Elizabeth High School, just off Allendale Road, on Whetstone Bridge Road so the traffic has increased in the area.

She said: "There are a lot of considerate drivers but the speeding ones will just overtake on the wrong side of the road, this can obviously be a serious issue if something is coming.

"Another problem is with the new Hexham Middle School site now opening up, there are 1,800 pupils using the site and all of these pupils mainly access the site via Allendale Road.

"The paths are not looked after. The bushes and trees are overgrown and the land slides onto the path so they are ridiculously narrow, my two children have to walk in single file.

"We need to have speed bumps put down this road, we need them all the way down and we also need railings down the side of the paths to keep the children safe walking down.

"Things have drastically changed with the opening of the new school however the road is still an absolute death trap."

After posting her concerns on social media she saw responses from other residents who agreed that something needs to change.

When asked about the safety measures, Cllr Derek Kennedy said he would welcome any residents who wanted to get involved as speed gun volunteers to get data and pass it on to police.

He said: "I have introduced two measuring controls, 30mph signs that flash a vehicle's speed.

"There have been a lot of problems for 10 years and we are conscious of school children's safety but also drivers.

"With regards to the opening of the schools, buses have now been told to park on the school's private land and a 20mph has been set up and is triggered at the beginning and end of school time.

"I would welcome anyone who wishes to volunteer as a speed gun volunteer and we would give the appropriate training and the results will be sent to the police".

n Earlier this week there was a three-car collision on Allendale road near the South Lands junction. This incident left two people in hospital.