CALLS to introduce safety measures on a Poole road where a seven-year-old boy died last year will be heard by borough transport bosses this evening.

Borough of Poole (BOP) Transport Advisory Group (TAG) members are set to discuss a petition, signed by more than 3,000 people, which calls for traffic calming measures - including speed humps, speed cameras and traffic chicanes - on Sherborn Crescent, Canford Heath.

Seven-year-old Toby William Jefferson-Peters died after a collision with a car in Sherborn Crescent last October.

The online petition was created by Poole resident Claire James in the aftermath of the fatal crash. Describing the crescent as a “racetrack” she said: “Two children have been hit by cars and there have been so many near misses. The council have been contacted but apparently their response was ‘it is either the child’s fault, or the driver’s fault. We do not have the money to put anything on that road’. This is outrageous.”

However, subsequent police investigations into the initial causes of the crash suggested speed and the road layout were not factors. An official inquest into the accident should take place later this year.

Canford Heath ward councillor Sandra Moore said: “The petition was done in the heat of the moment, but excess speed was not a factor. I agree with that. There is an awful lot of people who would not want traffic calming measures in place, it wouldn’t have helped in this particular accident, nor any of the other accidents in Sherborne Crescent in the past five years.”

Cllr Moore says a new pedestrian crossing has been secured, and she’ll be asking officers for another crossing and for the speed indication device on Sherborn Crescent to be used more.Meanwhile, Resident Arthur Brown, who lives of Sherborn Crescent, said: “Speed bumps would be good, but exactly where they would be placed could be a problem. Bumps are a deterrent , but I’m not too sure about cameras. You do get a lot of drivers coming down from the roundabout far too quickly.” Neighbour Fiona Dawkes said: “I understand speed may not have been an issue when the young boy was killed, but can anyone really say that cameras or chicanes may not have prevented it. I doubt we will ever know.”

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “Anyone who comes in and out of the roads leading off Sherborn Crescent will say the same thing - something needs to be done.”

A report to TAG members states the fatal accident “could not reasonably have been foreseen” and that the initial police investigation indicated no fault could be attributed to either the road layout or vehicle speed.

The same report stated: “There is not a significant accident or speeding problem in this road that would warrant further intervention.”

Figures show 11 reported injury collisions occurred in Sherborn Crescent between October 2011 and September 2016, and that speed was not a factor in any of these accidents

TAG is set to convene at Poole Civic Centre this evening (Thursday) from 7pm.