CAMPAIGNERS fighting for improved road safety in Williton - close to where a pensioner died earlier this year - are calling for a pedestrian crossing to be installed.

Local parish and district councillors backed demands for traffic calming measures in Long Street just weeks after the death of Edith Pickett - who was known as Mollie - in January.

The 89-year-old suffered fatal head and leg injuries when she was in collision with a car close to the junction of Brook Street, where she lived.

It was dark at the time of the accident and Miss Pickett was walking her dog along a stretch of road where there are no pavements.

At a meeting of Williton Parish Council on Tuesday, Cllr Bill Vaughan said there was a genuine need to protect pedestrians.

"We have already lost one - elderly people cannot run across the road and something needs to be done."

Calls for a pedestrian crossing some years ago close to the Long Street entrance to the village's Memorial Ground were rejected by highways chiefs, largely due to the width of the road.

But Cllr Vaughan said a crossing near the Brook Road and Dovetons junction should be a possibility: "There is ample enough space and the visibility is good."

The call for a crossing comes after recent speed and traffic checks carried out in Long Street revealed that more than 16,300 vehicles travelled along it in just a two-week period.

Although the median speed of drivers - the middle figure between the highest and the lowest - was 36mph - just 941 actually kept within the 30mph speed limit.

And the majority - more than 11,000 - were travelling at 40mph, with a significant number clocking 50mph.

Cllr Vaughan said the statistics lent weight to the demand for traffic calming measures, particularly as they had been gathered during an 'off peak' time of the year.

Somerset county councillor Anthony Trollope-Bellew, who represents the Watchet and Quantocks division which includes Williton, told the meeting that he was prepared to back the call for a pedestrian crossing but warned that it might be unsuccessful.

He said visibility for drivers at any chosen location had to be good enough, otherwise it could create more danger.

"I will try but the next problem will be to try and find the money," he said.

"Crossings are one of the things that have been cut so I make no promises at this stage."

Cllr Hugh Davies, who was re-elected as one of West Somerset Council's Williton ward representatives at last week's local elections, said he was also backing the call for a crossing.

He was the first to raise the issue of road safety improvements following Miss Pickett's death, initially calling for better street lighting in the Long Street area.

He said he had yet to receive a proper response from highway chiefs on the lighting issue.

"What is absolutely clear is that some sort of traffic calming measures are needed," said Cllr Davies.

"I would certainly support the idea of a crossing but my only concern would be where to put it - that could be a problem."