A DUNFERMLINE nursery is calling for a pedestrian crossing to be installed on Robertson Road. 

It comes after a senior early years practitioner at Lauriston Nursery was nearly knocked down while trying to help the children cross the busy road. 

Terri said she was in the middle of the road wearing a hi-vis vest when a car came speeding along and swerved right past her. 

She recalled: "I felt whiplash with the wind, they just drove right past me.

"Luckily we’re really careful and we make sure the traffic has come to a halt before we cross the children but at that moment, because there was nothing coming, I could have said ‘Right children it’s time to cross.’ "

While they were lucky that nobody was hurt in this instance, Terri said there have been other near misses for staff and parents. 

She continued: "We are concerned that the road going past the nursery is quite fast and nobody really abides by the speed limit. 

"There have been some dangerous encounters, including the one recently where I nearly got knocked down myself.  

"We don’t deem it very safe, and obviously we do as much as we can to keep the children and staff safe, but we feel that we would benefit from some support from Fife Council."

(Image: Dave Wardle)

Part of the road operates with a reduced 20mph speed limit outside Bellyeoman Primary School, whereas the road outside Lauriston Nursery is a 30mph zone. 

She said there is also a doctors surgery, a church and care home nearby, and added that elderly people would also appreciate new measures to keep them safe.

To help raise awareness, the children have been completing a road safety topic and have put out posters outside the nursery and next to the roadside, asking drivers to slow down. 

One child added: "Cars might be coming - you look left and right and left again because they are going so fast, they might not see you!"

While another said: "You might have an accident. The cars might hurt you because they're going so fast."

Fife Council service manager Sara Wilson told the Press: “We've recently been asked by the parent council at Bellyeoman Primary School to carry out a site visit in relation to road safety concerns near to the school.

"We'll make sure that we take Lauriston Nursery into consideration as part of that wider piece of work regarding Robertson Road."