THERE is a "very real danger" that a child could be involved in a tragic accident unless low railings on a bridge above a motorway are replaced.


Half of the pupils at Thorpe Hall Primary School in Walthamstow cross over the North Circular via the bridge on Hale End Road, but parents and teachers say the one metre railings are insufficient.
 

They plan to start a petition and lobby for safety improvements.

The safety fears were sparked by the death of a 16-year-old Wendy Maguire, who fell from a footbridge between Gainsborough Road and Wallwood Road in Leytonstone earlier this year.
 

Father-of-three David Hoskins, chair of the Friends of Thorpe Hall School, said: "Young children could easily jump over the edge. It's really worrying because as a parent you can't keep an eye on everybody all the time.
 

"I think the whole thing needs to be rethought. We should have a fence that goes all the way over the top to prevent anyone from getting over it.
 

"It's certainly a parent's worse fear, something happening to children on their way to school."
 

And school governor Sheree Rackham said the railings should be increased.
 

"It's a very real danger," she added.
 

"We don't want to wait for a tragedy to happen before we get this fixed.
 

"The thing is a lot of children walk to school on their own, especially older ones, and as a kid you can get very excited when you're walking with your friends, and who knows what could happen if there aren't the proper safety measures in place."
 

The school is now planning to start a petition to present to Transport for London to ask for the railings to be increased in size.

A TfL spokeswoman said: “In common with similar parapet rails across the Transport for London road network, the bridge parapet on Hale End Road meets legislative and design standards. We have no plans to replace the parapet rail at this location.”

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