A dad fears a temporary crossing on Ermin Street is an accident waiting to happen after his seven-year-old daughter was nearly hit by a passing car.

Chris Screen, 50, who lives in Griffiths Close, raised his concern with Wales and West Utilities after the incident four weeks ago.

He said: “My wife and a friend were walking with their children when they stopped at that crossing. They pressed the button, the green man for crossing showed and my daughter stepped out into the road and a car nearly knocked her over.

“I raised the concerns because my daughter was nearly hit there as she was told to cross.

“It could’ve been horrendous. I went and had a look at the arrangement, and I definitely am surprised that more youngsters haven’t been hit.”

The temporary crossing was installed next to the zebra crossing near the Church Way turning, which was out of use. But, one end of the traffic lights where cars were meant to stop was about 100 metres down the road, near Dom’s Barbershop, with no visibility of the new crossing for drivers coming from that direction.

“There’s always an issue with speed on Ermin Street, especially with these temporary lights as cars are often trying to get through before it changes to a red light,” said Chris. “Then people are already crossing by the time they get there.”

He told the Adver he saw the traffic light had been moved closer to the crossing area after he highlighted the issue with the firm.

Wales and West Utilities area engineering manager for south west England Dai Rees said: “In early July, a member of the public contacted us to say that there was an issue with the lights on the temporary pedestrian crossing.

“We sent our traffic management contractors to review the traffic management in place, and they confirmed that the temporary pedestrian crossing and the traffic lights were working properly.

“Our team have continued to inspect the traffic management in place, including at weekends, to confirm everything is operating safely.

“We are aware of reports of vehicles attempting to avoid temporary traffic restrictions. We would strongly urge all road users to obey the local speed limit and the temporary traffic lights.

On July 23 an eleven-year-old boy taken to the Great Western Hospital after being knocked down further along the road.

“That was unrelated to our traffic lights,” said the spokesman. “We are very sorry to hear about the collision, and our thoughts are with the young boy who was injured and his family.”

“The safety of the local communities we serve is a top priority, alongside the safety of our engineers carrying out our essential work.

“We have robust processes and procedures in place and work in close partnership with local authorities, including councils and traffic management specialists, to make sure our work is carried out to the highest safety standards.”

According to records from Wiltshire Police there have been nine incidents involving road traffic collisions on Ermin Street in the past 12 months

Five of the incidents featured cars colliding with inanimate objects. Two involved two cars colliding together and two were collisions with pedestrians, with a 12-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy being knocked down.

A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson said: “We receive the details from Wiltshire Police on all collisions involving injuries that take place in Swindon, including details of what has caused the collisions.

“We routinely use this information to determine if any additional road safety measures are necessary. Collisions that have taken place on Ermin Street will be included in this annual review.

“Residents can also have their say on road safety around the town by taking part in the ongoing consultation for the Council’s Road Safety Strategy."