A SCHOOLGIRL suffered serious injuries in an accident at a road junction highlighted as dangerous by parents.

Lanelle Allen, nine, of Jefferson Road, Sheerness, had just come out of school when she was involved in a collision with a Vauxhall Cavalier at the junction of the town's Richmond Street and Unity Street.

Lanelle, a pupil at Cheyne Middle School, was flown by Kent Air Ambulance to hospital with two badly broken bones in one leg and head injuries. She needed 40 X-rays.

Parents of local school children have been campaigning for safety measures near Cheyne Middle and Richmond First schools.

Lanelle's father, Danny Allen, said her foot was almost severed. He and Lanelle’s mother Sarah Smith, were taking it in turns to keep a bedside vigil at the hospital while looking after their other children.

Mr Allen said: "Fortunately, the head injury does not seem to be as bad as it could have been. I talked to the female car driver at the scene and she was in great shock and distress. I certainly believe that something should be done to improve road safety where it happened and at other roads around here."

Ironically, a petition with more than 1,000 signatures, highlighting the traffic problems in the area, had been arranged to be handed over to the Mayor of Swale, Cllr John Morris, at the exact spot where the accident happened on Tuesday. This went ahead as planned.

FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S SHEERNESS TIMES GUARDIAN