HUNDREDS of people have given their support to a campaign to improve road safety in a West Somerset village following a tragedy where a 10-year-old boy died last year.

The campaign, ‘For a Safer Dunster’, is calling for a 20 mph speed limit, safer parking, and an end to oversized vehicles passing through.

The initiative began shortly after a school coach crash last July in which the youngster died on the A396 which runs through Dunster to Wheddon Cross.

Dozens were also injured and a major incident was declared, but ambulances trying to reach the scene on Cutcombe Hill became stuck in Dunster because of the narrowness of traffic light-controlled Church Street.

The group’s mission statement is: “We want to make our village roads more accessible for the emergency services, safer for pedestrians, and less confusing for road users.”

A spokesperson told the Free Press: “We want people to take this seriously, there are lives at risk.

“We know it is going to take a long time, but we keep working with people and changing things around.

“People think they know the road, but knowing the road is one thing, being psychic and knowing what is around the corner is another.

“We are working very closely with the parish council, who are working closely with highways and Exmoor National Park Authority.

“Our local MP Rachel Gilmour has been very supportive, as have our two Somerset councillors.”

The spokesperson said group members had put up homemade signs around the village depicting snails, people in wheelchairs, and other images intended to make drivers think about their speed.

They referenced a recent incident where a car crashed into a house in West Street near the Foresters Arms public house, missing a gas mains pipe by ‘about two millimetres’.

Nearly 450 people have signed a Change.org online petition in support.