Parents have warned it is only a matter of time before a pupil is seriously injured or killed on a main north Watford road near two schools unless actions is taken.

Politicians were presented with a petition of more than 1,000 signatures on Wednesday calling for the crossing on Bushey Mill Lane to be improved and a 20mph zone.

The road sits between Parkgate Junior School and Parkgate Infants and Nursery and is a busy thoroughfare for pupils and parents.

Nikki Pengelly, 40, one of the mothers spearheading the campaign said the location of the current crossing in Bushey Mill Lane, by Parkgate Road, was inadequate and in a dangerous place.

The mother-of-three from Leggatts Wood Avenue said: "The way the cars go around the bend they do not realise the lights are there and they go straight through the red lights.

"I watched with an open mouth as my son was at the lights when they went green, he decided to cross but then stopped himself as he saw a lorry coming. A 10-year-old should not have to do that."

Mrs Pegelly, a bookeeper, said that parents want the crossing upgraded and also a 20 mph zone imposed around the area in mornings and evenings.

She added: "It is little things to be put in place to make it safer for our children as it is not a matter of if there will be a death, but when there will be a death."

Parents at the school handed their petition to politicians at the Highways Liaison Briefing at Watford Borough Council yesterday (on Wednesday).

Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst, the chairman of the committee, said politicians had supported the plans

He said:  "It was supported by the whole panel and now it is will the highways officers. There is an industrial estate with lorries coming down that road.

"Also the location of the lights is close to a bend. There are a number of factors that make it very dangerous at the end of the day. There are clear and important issues and something needs to be done about it."

Councillor Giles-Medhurst said he felt the cost of the improving the crossing would not be too great as the main parts such as the lights were also in place.