WORRIED parents of youngsters attending a Bournemouth independent school fear a serious accident during dropping-off or picking-up is only "a matter of time."

Parents are calling for Bournemouth Borough Council to upgrade safety measures outside Park School, Queens Park South Drive, with a pedestrian crossing and increased parking enforcement in the area.

Mum Alyson Weir, whose five-year-old twins attend the school, told the Daily Echo: "There has already been at least one accident here, it happened on Friday. (OCT 6)

"The public car park across from the school is always packed out, we suspect by nearby workers, and a car came out and started to turn away from the direction of the gym next door to the school.

"Then a parent who was parked with her child in the car, reversed and went straight into this other vehicle."

No-one was seriously injured in the incident, but the fear is it won't always stay this way.

Mrs Weir, from Queens Park, explained: "Parents park all along the road, they park everywhere - it is terrible. I've got twins, we walk every day. We walk across the field. So I have to run the gauntlet of crossing that road, because there are parents parked on both sides where they are not supposed to.

"You practically have to cross the road to even see if it is clear. There really is an accident waiting to happen there, it is so clear.

"A child is going to get hurt."

Fellow parent Rupert Godesen said: "We live on the other side of the dual carriageway and walk through the under pass.

"I'm always gobsmacked at how some of these parents park right up by the school. "Some of them just stop in the middle of the road to drop their kids off and it just comes to a standstill.

"A lot of the car park by the school is filled with people who work nearby and leave their cars their all day."

One parent said they arrive at the school as early as 8am so they can find a parking space and avoid the "chaos in the road".

Park School is an independent day school for boys and girls aged 2-11 years.

There are around 280 pupils at the school, with two classes in each year group - from Reception to Year 6. The school also runs a popular nursery.

A school spokesman said: "We are constantly reminding parents to be respectful of neighbours and to park properly and legally. I would call for everyone to park respectively and responsibly throughout Bournemouth."

Meanwhile, Bournemouth Council highway design and road safety manager Richard Pearson said his department has been made aware of concerns regarding driver behaviour drop off and pick up times.

He said: "The safety of the school children is of paramount importance and measures already in place include 'school keep clear' markings, double yellow lines and speed humps to reduce speed and provide raised pedestrian crossing points.

"The council's civil enforcement team routinely patrol all areas around schools and drivers who do not adhere to the parking controls may be issued with a fixed penalty notice.

"We ask that drivers take responsibility to ensure the safety of school children by parking sensibly and correctly."