A VALE mother has started a petition to get a pedestrian island removed from a busy main road.

Pat Tovey, aged 40, of Cheltenham Road, Beckford, says that if it isn't she may have to move house.

"Two accidents and one fatality is enough. The bollard needs to be removed," she said.

She has gathered more than 500 signatures from residents and lorry drivers to try and get the island removed from the A46 after two accidents in the last two months, one of which claimed the life of a lorry driver.

Geoffrey Richardson, a 57-year-old man from Nuneaton, was killed when his juggernaut left the road at about 3.15am on April 3 and ploughed into the house of George and Maureen Francis, who escaped unhurt along with their grandchildren.

In February, neighbour Tracey Waters and her family had a lucky escape when a lorry left the road and hit the side of their house.

Mrs Tovey, who has a nine-year-old daughter, Briony, and an 18-year-old son, Simon, wants to see the bollard, put in as part of traffic calming measures on the road, replaced with a pedestrian crossing.

"I've got a lot of support from the lorry drivers and I even had a letter from a lorry driver in Somerset who regularly uses the road, who witnessed a lorry clipping the bollard and almost losing control, just five days after the fatality."

She said copies of the petition would be distributed to the Worcester division of West Mercia Police, the Highways Agency and Adrian Darby , district councillor for Beckford.

She said that Cheltenham Road residents, including herself, have been having sleepless nights ever since the fatal crash and residents from neighbouring Little Beckford have also expressed their concerns.

She added: "We are literally living on our nerves. If the bollard isn't removed then I'll have to give some serious consideration to moving."

Mrs Tovey said anyone wanting to add their names to her petition could contact her on 01386 882347.