A DISTRAUGHT dad is appealing for changes to be made to a crossing on a busy Portishead road after his wife and son were hit by a car.

Helen Tully, aged 31, was pushing her one-year-old son Aaron across the zebra crossing in Clevedon Road, North Weston, when a vehicle hit the pushchair and spun it round before driving off.

Luckily Aaron, who was asleep when the incident happened, was unharmed and Helen escaped with a sore wrist, but her husband Leighton is now appealing for help to catch the driver.

He said: “I’m absolutely livid. If Aaron hadn’t been asleep it could have been so much worse. He could have had his hands out of the buggy - I wouldn’t like to think what could have happened.

“We’ve had to get a new buggy because our old one is dented and the wheel is buckled.”

North Weston residents fought hard to get a crossing on the main road because they said it could take up to 20 minutes to cross the street. Now however they are calling for it to be changed to a pelican crossing because of the number of motorists who flout speeding restrictions and completely ignore the crossing. North Somerset Council data shows that on average more than 100 cars exceed the speed limit on this stretch of road each day.

Mum-of-two and teaching assistant Alison Clegg says the crossing is notorious for cars failing to stop.

She said: “Most days several cars pass pedestrians waiting to cross before a vehicle actually stops.”

Mr Tully is now calling for urgent changes to be made to avoid a possible fatality in the future and has taken the matter up with ward councillor Alan McMurray.

Cllr McMurray said: “By coincidence I had just arranged for a portable speed sign to be located near the crossing. The sign’s batteries should last five days but they are only lasting about one day due to the high level of speeding cars activating the sign.

“I will continue to press for further safety improvements on this busy road, I think we should be proactive in preventing incidents like this, rather than be reactive to a fatality.”

The car involved in the pushchair collision was black. The incident happened at 8.40am on November 7 and police are appealing for any witnesses to call them on 101.