Renewed calls for safety measures on ‘dangerous’ Tip Hill

Parents and police have issued a desperate ‘slow down’ plea to drivers after an 11-year-old boy was ‘hit’ by a vehicle on his way to school.

PC Kevin Hill branded a ‘dangerous’ stretch from Sidmouth Road to Tip Hill as an ‘accident waiting to happen’ and called on motorists to kill their speed on a route that is used daily by small children.

Mum Kerry Rosewarne issued the plea after she said her 11-year-old son was hit by a van while he was walking to The King’s School on Wednesday, leaving him badly shaken but unhurt.

Parents and residents reacted with outrage to the incident, which has sparked renewed calls for safety measures after reports another child was hit by a vehicle on the same day.

Kerry, of Sidmouth Road, said: “It’s a horrible bit of road.

“I do not know what they can do about it other than to get people to slow down. I have younger children that I walk to [Ottery Primary] school and that stretch is terrible as well.”

She described how her son had been on the pavement heading down Tip Hill when he was ‘hit’ by a van with enough force to break the wing mirror, but said the driver did not stop to see if the boy was OK.

Police confirmed they have recieved a report of the incident.

PC Hill, of Ottery’s neighbourhood police team, said: “The message to drivers is slow down and watch your speed. It’s a horrible road.

“I do not know why it’s like it is, but it’s an accident waiting to happen. It’s a dangerous road, so slow down.

“People are just going down there too quickly. It’s not a road designed for any more than 20mph.”

County councillor Claire Wright said she was alarmed to hear of the incident and said she will be talking to Ottery’s PCSO Maria Clapp and the town council to see what further measures can be taken to encourage drivers to slow down.

Cllr Wright added: “It can be quite a lethal road and there are lots of vulnerable children walking to and from school with their parents.”