RESIDENTS of a Forest village are to hold a protest this month saying they’re ‘tired of waiting’ for a pedestrian crossing.

Residents of Aylburton say after waiting nearly 70 years for a pedestrian crossing - first asking the Highways Authority to install a zebra crossing in 1953 - enough is enough, and are holding a ‘mass crossing’ on Saturday (June 11).

Twelve thousand lorries and cars drive through Aylburton every day, a village of 700 residents with two pubs, two churches, a primary school, a playing field and a village hall.

The A48 goes straight through the middle of the village. There is nowhere that pedestrians have priority.

“We have a right to feel safe in our community – and we don’t,” says Mark Topping who chairs the parish council.

“We take our lives in our hands every day to go anywhere in this village: children going to school, parents and toddlers going to the village hall or elderly residents with zimmer frames visiting neighbours.

“If someone dies trying to cross the A48 in Aylburton we will no doubt go to the top of the list to get a crossing.

“Why should someone have to die first? A pedestrian crossing should be a basic requirement for communities like ours.

“The Highways Authority is meant to be responsible for road safety and they have been failing us for generations.

“We’ve waited 70 years for a crossing – it’s obvious that waiting patiently and quietly isn’t going to get us one. That’s why we’re holding this protest.”

Villagers will gather at the ancient cross monument in the centre of the village at 12 noon on Saturday June 11 and cross the A48 to get to the village hall.