A SHEAR Brow councillor has renewed calls for a zebra crossing in a Blackburn street following another crash at an accident blackspot.

Councillor Hussain Akhtar has renewed his calls for safety measures to be introduced in East Park Road after a car hit a wall close to the entrance to Corporation Park.

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In February, homes in East Park Road were evacuated after a car being pursued by police smashed into a wall, hit a gas main and caused a major leak.

Residents were forced out of their homes for around two hours, after the road was closed between its junctions with Langham Road and Brantfell Road following the accident.

A wall in the road was damaged in another crash in May, and in October, three cars were involved in an accident with a lorry on East Park Road.

The most recent accident, which happened on Sunday near to the to the postbox, damaged the park’s exterior wall.

Coun Akhtar, who represents the area on Blackburn with Darwen Council, said he had had safety concerns about East Park Road for some time, and that the road had a particular issue with speeding motorists racing around the area.

He said: “It’s happening again and again. Someone will be killed.

“I’ve been campaigning for a long time for a zebra crossing.

“Every month the police are there, or the road is blocked because something has happened.

“The residents are scared now, we don’t want this.

“Children have to cross the road to get to school.

“It’s a blackspot, East Park Road is a dangerous road now.”

Mr Akhtar said there was no pedestrian crossing on East Park Road, but residents have suggested several suitable locations for one to be installed in the area.

In response to Councillor Akhtar’s earlier comments on the subject, Simon Butt, head of Highways for Blackburn with Darwen Council, insisted he was not aware of the problem and said “We are not aware of any requests received for a pedestrian crossing facility on East Park Road.

“If we were made aware of specific locations of concern on East Park Road, a pedestrian count and traffic survey would need to be undertaken to see if a pedestrian crossing could be justified.

“It should be noted that East Park Road does not have a history of pedestrian injury accidents, so there are no plans to install a crossing at this location.

“With limited funding available for such schemes, budgets must be prioritised to alleviate those areas of the road network where injuries to road users are already occurring.”