A CHILD will be killed by speeding motorists "whizzing" through High Ongar unless something is done, a local headteacher has warned.

Penny Bennett is now fighting for a reduced speed limit outside the primary school.

In a plea to Essex County Council, Miss Bennett said: "Please install some traffic calming measures before there's a serious accident and keep speeding cars away from our lovely village school."

Miss Bennett wants a 20mph zone to thwart speeding motorists attempting to avoid Ongar during rush hour. She says parents parking nearby to drop their children off exacerbate the problem.

"I've told parents we don't want a fatality here and they're also concerned and think it's only a matter of time before this happens."

The school has attempted to introduce "walking buses" but the initiative received little interest from parents.

Miss Bennett added: "It's an ongoing problem; we've narrow roads, the school has grown over time and we've more children who are brought to school by car. We understand why because many parents are not local but from the surrounding areas so they need to drive through the village."

Miss Bennett has written to parents urging safer parking and safety awareness.

In the letter she warned: "We need to get this awareness of the dangers involved instilled into our pupils in order that we don't have a serious accident or worse still, a fatality."

On contacting the county council over traffic measures, she said: "We haven't approached them yet.

"You don't want that to happen and have it on your conscience. We don't want reactive measures."

A county council spokesman said it understood the concerns over speeding traffic and encouraged the school to adopt its School Travel plan, which would lead to routes to school being assessed and could mean traffic management and speed reduction measures being introduced.

The council added parents should park appropriately, preferably a distance away from the school, and drive safely and slowly when dropping their children off.