SPEEDING motorists are travelling up to 70mph along winding residential streets close to a primary school, and people fear it is only time before someone is killed.

Last week two cars collided at the junction between Bower Hill and Hill Crest Way in Epping - a young female passenger was taken to hospital with a broken wrist, and one of the cars came off the road and ended up with it's wheel balanced on a wall.

The latest warning sign came as no surprise to people living along the 30mph road, but now, they say something needs to be done.

Users of the Epping Forum website had been complaining about the problem for months, and one witnessed the aftermath of the crash last Friday (June 12) at 6.15pm.

He said: "The size of the impact suggests that speed may come into it. Yet another reason why we need a proper speed camera on Bower Hill rather than that stupid flashing sign...

"We must however be thankful that this happened just before the train pulled in, a few minutes later and there would have been a crowd of commuters on the pavement walking home just where that blue car is."

Another posted on the site: "Lately it's been getting much worse. When you actually see a car which doesn't trigger the 30mph sign, you get a reference point to see just how fast cars and vans drive up and down the road."

Catherine Gorham lives on Bower Hill and said motorists are constantly speeding along the roads near her house.

She added: "It does concern us very much. They seem to be used as a rat race and it's dangerous as there could be a child walking past on the pavement. My cat was killed in the road a while ago. Speed bumps are the obvious solution, and although they are a pain for everyone, safety has to come first."

David Doughty, also from Bower Hill said: "We don't let the children go out on their own outside the house. There's a lot of children around and we need to get something put in place to stop this."

His wife Claire said: "I'm concerned about Ivy Chimney's Road outside the school. It's terrible, especially when there are a lot of children around."

Suzan Wigzell, 55 lives at the bottom of Bower Hill, at the point where vehicles are often travelling at a high speed.

She said: "They come down the hill and speed up, sometimes up to 70mph. We have got pets so that's always a worry that something could happen to them.

"Coming out of my drive I have to be careful. They will come down quite fast. I think it's always a worry that there will be children involved.

"There are a fair number of people who walk down this road and the pavements aren't very wide so it wouldn't take much for a car to come off the road and hit someone."

Teresa Winter, 34 from Stewards Green Road in Epping has children who attend Ivy Chimney's school.

She said: "It's awful. Of course I'm worried for the safety of my children. Ivy Chimney's Road is one of the worst."

Another parent of the school Joanne Marshall said: "It really concerns me. The traffic goes so fast and people come up the kerb to get past where children are walking. Their wing mirrors are at the same height as my girls heads and I always see people speeding and texting at the same time."

A spokesman from Essex County Council said: "This site has not been a priority for our improvement programme having not previously had a high accident rate. However we will continue to monitor all aspects of road safety at the location. We are happy to talk to the town council about the issue."

Police are appealing for witnesses who saw the crash last week to come forward.

Anyone with any information should contact Mike Ashman at the Chigwell Road Policing Unit on 0300 333 444.