FED-UP residents are demanding that action is taken to stop speeding drivers after a dramatic car crash outside their homes yesterday.

Shortly after 12:30pm yesterday (June 9) a blue Ford Escort hit a white Ford delivery van on Coopersale Common, Epping, before skidding across the road and bursting into flames.

Although the four occupants of the car walked away unharmed, residents say it will not be long before someone is killed.

They say they cannot let their children play in their front gardens, fear for their safety and have lost countless pets to drivers speeding down the 30mph road.

Mrs Jan Hall, who has lived in the quiet row of cottages with her family for the past 19 years said she is frightened to step outside her front door.

She said: "It's a serious problem round here, we've had vans hitting the bridge and cars on their roof. It makes me wonder what has to happen before someone will do something."

"The car came flying under the railway bridge, hit a delivery van and sent it shooting down the road. Luckily the delivery driver wasn't in there.

A policeman told me he would have been killed if he was in the van."

"This is further proof that we need the council to do something about this road, there's been lots of near misses that don't get reported to them so they don't know the full picture, but it's awful here."

"I've lost seven cats over the years, they've all been killed by people speeding down the road. My neighbours cat was hit last week and had to have a leg amputated, which cost her £700."

"As you can imagine I would never consider letting my children play out the front of the house. I can't allow them to."

Mrs Millie Kemp, 74, said she is sick of being inconvenienced by selfish drivers.

She said:" It's so dangerous, they just speed around down there and there are no road markings, i've lived here for 20 years and you can't walk down the road anymore. It's just getting worse and worse."

"We need something to slow people down. Because of the crash we had to get off our bus and walk up the hill and I've got arthritis and my friend walks with a stick."

A spokesman for Essex police confirmed they were looking into the latest crash.

She said: "Police are investigating after an incident on June 9, at 12:30pm, following a collision between a blue Ford Escort and a white Ford transit van. Essex County Fire and Rescue were called, there were no injuries."