Parents of a schoolgirl left seriously injured in hospital after being hit by a car have taken to monitoring speeding drivers in a bid to make their village safer.

Folkestone School for Girls pupil Maya McFadden was returning home when she was struck by a vehicle as she crossed Canterbury Road in Densole, near Folkestone, after getting off a bus at Nursery Lane.

She was hit on her left side by a car travelling south on the A260, leaving her in hospital in Ashford for five days with a collapsed lung, broken ribs, cuts and bruises, and a badly-sprained left leg in a cast.

Maya, now 12 years old, has made a full recovery following the traumatic accident in May and is back at school full time.

Mum Caroline and dad Sean are now spearheading a local Community Speedwatch group, which has around 10 volunteers who take time to monitor drivers passing through the village.

Clad in hi-viz, the group sets up on the main road with a speed gun and a display which shows motorists how fast they are going.

Mr McFadden said: "The whole idea of this is education and awareness.

"The speed camera detects every speed, so people can see what they're actually doing. It doesn't just flash when they're going fast.

"So it gives them the idea of what the speed should be, so that's educating people.

"We just go to different spots along the road where the police have said you can officially go here or there.

"So we randomly go to different places so that we're never at the same place any two times in the week.

"It just keeps people kind of on their guard. They've got be thinking about their speed."

The speed limit on the A260 through Densole is currently 40mph, dropping from the 60mph national speed limit on the road approaching the village.

As part of their road safety campaign following Maya's accident, the McFaddens are hoping to secure a 30mph limit in the village along with improved signs and pedestrian crossings.

They have secured support of Swingfield Parish Council, which will look to draw up a local Highway Improvement Plan which can then be put to the highway authority, Kent County Council.

Asked how drivers have reacted to the speed checks, Mr McFadden said: "Most people give a thumbs up and little hoot to say, 'keep it up'.

"Having that visibility, the next step is to try to encourage more people to do Speedwatch.

"I think overall we've got quite a lot of support going our way and our councillors have been really positive, saying 'you're doing the right thing'."

A strikingly similar accident occurred on the same stretch of road in 2016 when an 11-year-old Folkestone Academy pupil was also hit by a car when crossing Canterbury Road.

Emma Gardiner was hit by the vehicle when she was half way across the road, resulting in her "being thrown a considerable distance" according to her mother.

Community Speedwatch is a national initiative where, in partnership with the police, members of the public are permitted to use detection devices to monitor local vehicle speeds.

The volunteers report drivers exceeding the speed limit to the police with the aim of educating drivers to slow down.

Anyone locally who would like to assist the volunteer Community Speedwatch group should contact makedensolesafe@hotmail.com.