FEARS have been raised that elderly pedestrians are at risk of being killed or injured unless action is taken to make a busy Gorleston road safer.Families of people living in residential homes on Marine Parade are asking for a zebra crossing to reduce the chance of a serious accident.

FEARS have been raised that elderly pedestrians are at risk of being killed or injured unless action is taken to make a busy Gorleston road safer.

Families of people living in residential homes on Marine Parade are asking for a zebra crossing to reduce the chance of a serious accident.

Parked

cars regularly line the road, reducing visibility outside the neighbouring Gables and St Edmunds residential homes.

Drivers have also been accused of travelling at dangerous speeds along the thoroughfare, which runs the length of Gorleston cliff-top.

Retired butcher Albert Bowgett, 86, has experienced the problems first hand negotiating the road during a daily walk with wheelchair-bound wife Elsie. His 87-year- old wife has lived at the Gables nursing home for the last two years and suffers from severe dementia.

Mr Bowgett said: “Drivers go too fast. They just tear along at high speeds. Cars should slow down to allow elderly people to cross safely. Has someone got to be killed before something is done about this?

“There are so many cars parked each side of the road it is impossible to see; you have to walk into the middle of the road to get a clear view.

“A pedestrian crossing is urgently needed before there is a serious accident. At the moment, there is just a warning sign at the side of the road, which I'm sure most drivers don't even spot.”

St Edmunds assistant manager Jacqueline Lovejoy is also hoping action can be taken to make the road safer for the home's residents.

She said: “The traffic situation is terrible. We have problems with people parking in front of drop down kerbs and this is a wide straight road which encourages drivers to speed.

“It is particularly bad during the summer when the road gets really busy and there are so many cars parked up here. Lots of residents' families have raised the issue with us and we want to approach the county council to see what can be done to make the road safer.

“It is the same situation as outside schools and there needs to be equivalent road safety measures for residential and nursing homes.”

A spokesman for Norfolk County Council said: “We are investigating a crossing on Marine Parade, but not in this area because concern raised with us has been closer to Cliff Park Infant and Junior School. We are doing a feasibility study on pedestrian improvements for around the school, including a crossing on Marine Parade, but this is some 500m further south than the Gables/St Edmunds care homes.

“If crossing near these homes is becoming a problem, it is something we will have to look into, but there are no proposals at the moment.”