A delivery driver was crushed against his own van in one of two crashes that have prompted renew ed calls for a 20mph zone in streets surrounding Haverstock Hill.

The 35-year-old man was “squashed” between his own vehicle and another delivery van outside the Sir Richard Steele pub in Haverstock Hill at 9.30am on Thursday, February 9.

Jackie Lucas, 27, a nanny, who lives in nearby Steele’s Studios and helped the injured driver, said: “I heard his screams and when I came out he was lying on the ground. He couldn’t move and was in shock and possibly had internal injuries.

“There were a lot of people looking and I still feel terrible when I think about it.”

She called an ambulance and he was rushed to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington with back, leg and chest injuries.

Just four days later a motorbike and a car crashed in nearby England’s Lane, at the junction with Primrose Gardens, at 7.40pm on Monday, February 13, leaving a man, thought to be in his 20s, needing medical attention.

The crashes have led to renewed calls for a proposed new 20mph zone in Haverstock Hill to be extended to surrounding streets.

Camden Council has agreed to set up the zone along the length of Haverstock Hill from Rosslyn Hill in Hampstead to Chalk Farm.

But England’s Lane will be exempt and adjacent Parkhill Road is also excluded, despite residents’ claims that high speeds endanger pupils at The Village School.

A feasibility survey is planned in April to look at the possibility of extending the 20mph zone to Parkhill Road.

Haverstock Hill has one of the highest road casualty rates in the borough.

Haverstock councillor Matt Sanders said: “We’ve had a whole series of accidents on and off Haverstock Hill and we need to look at the area as a whole and what we can do to stop it.”

A council spokesman said:‘‘There are proposals to implement a 20mph speed limit in England’s Lane, which will be consulted on in March.’’