Parents and teachers in East Finchley have united to lobby Barnet Council to “just do something” about a junction where a young girl was hit by a car a fortnight ago.

%image(15186521, type="article-full", alt="Children campaign for the crossing outside of Martin Primary to be made safer. Picture: Erini Rodis")

They have set up the N2 Safer Crossing Campaign (N2SCC) – and founding member Emily Candler told the Ham&High she was hopeful of change.

Emily said: “It needs to be reviewed. We’re a group of concerned parents. What we are trying to do is, as a community, get the council and TfL to act.

“Everyone is just worried that someone is going to be seriously injured. It’s not just the schools – it’s one of the main routes into the community.

“We saw the accident a few weeks ago, with a little girl and her father injured, but there are so many close calls. We watch drivers jump red lights so often.”

%image(15186522, type="article-full", alt="The crossing has button operated traffic lights. Picture: Mike Coles")

Martin Primary School’s headteacher Rebecca Bakar said: “The crossing outside our school is a main walking route for our school community as well as the wider community. We have been humbled by the community response to support us in ensuring safety is prioritised, and look forward to hearing from the council and TfL.”

Local councillor Arjun Mittra (East Finchley, Lab) told the Ham&High: “We’ve been campaigning on this for a long time. One idea we would like to look at is a solution where the stop lines on the road would be further from the junction, so even if someone does jump the light there’s a gap.”

Cllr Mittra said he would be raising the matter at the next meeting of Barnet Council’s Finchley and Golders Green area committee.

A spokesperson for Transport for London said they were aware of road safety lobbying with regard to the High Road. They said: “Engineers are visiting the site to determine what changes we can make.

%image(15186524, type="article-full", alt="Earlier this year a father and daughter were injured when hit by a car at the crossing. Picture: Mike Coles")

“We are committed to our Vision Zero approach to eliminate death and serious injury on London’s roads.”

The transport authority said this included working with boroughs to improve dangerous junctions.

A Barnet Council spokesperson said: “Both the junction with East End Road and the section of road close to the junction with Church Lane have light controlled crossings in place to allow pedestrians to cross safely.

“The council takes road safety extremely seriously and will always consider what improvements if any can be made to improve safety for all road users.”

%image(15186526, type="article-full", alt="Children from Martin Primary School protest at the "dangerous" crossing outside of the school. Picture: Mike Coles")

They added the town hall was working with the police in regard to the accident at the crossing in January.