A SENIOR councillor has demanded that long-promised safety improvements to a dangerous road should include upgrading a Zebra crossing to a traffic light-controlled Pelican.

Oswaldtwistle's County Cllr Peter Britcliffe has campaigned for two years for works to cut the danger to pedestrians on Blackburn Road in the town's West End.

He is alarmed that official accident statistics show that between 2013/14 and 2015/16 it had 63 accidents, making it the most dangerous in Hyndburn borough.

Now he has written to Lancashire County Council's transport boss Cllr Keith Iddon calling for the long-promised safety improvements due in the summer to include upgrading the current Zebra into a Pelican crossing.

Cllr Britcliffe said: "The number of near misses at this crossing is incredible. So far we have been lucky and nobody has been fatally injured. I really believe upgrading the crossing will mean that effective safety measures are in place.

"Merely repainting the Zebra crossing is not good enough. It needs to be turned into a Pelican."

Cllr Iddon said: "I'm happy to talk to our officers to ensure the measures proposed are effective in improving pedestrian safety."