A KEIGHLEY dad demanding a drastic reduction in the number of heavy goods vehicles using the road outside a school is celebrating success.

Ross Medlock has been calling for Guard House Road to no longer be used as a route for people learning how to drive heavy wagons.

This road is immediately outside Our Lady of Victories Catholic Primary School (OLV).

Mr Medlock, whose five-year-old son attends this school, said his son had nearly been knocked down by these vehicles twice in the last two months.

This week he said he was delighted to receive confirmation from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) that Guard House Road was being taken off the route for HGV learner drivers.

DVSA spokesman operations director (North) Peter Hearn said: "We are committed to helping people through a lifetime of safe driving and we will listen to any concerns the community have.

“Following conversations with the local primary school, we will not be carrying out any more HGVs tests on Guard House Road.”

Mr Medlock, who lives in the same road, and works as a painter and decorator, said: "I'm very pleased and happy for the sake of the children and for the school.

"And it does highlight the dangers there are on this road – there was another accident there involving a stolen car at about 11pm on Sunday night."

He had previously warned that Guard House Road had experienced a dramatic increase in heavy wagon usage after a number of vehicle testing stations outside the Keighley area were shut down.

"Now those stations have gone we have all these wagons coming here instead," he said.

"There is no dual control system in those types of vehicles, and these are inexperienced drivers.

"We've been getting about 10 to 15 of the wagons a day coming up Guard House Road – the increase in the last six to seven months is beyond a joke.

"There have been cases of kids nearly being hit by the wagons. Even if a wagon is just going at five miles per hour, if it hits a kid it can still kill them. It's just way too dangerous.

"There is no weight limit on this road, and it has a 30 mile per hour speed limit, which is too fast for right outside a school."

Paul Booth, head of school at OLV, speaking before the DVSA announcement of the changed HGV learner route, said: "Our priority is the safety of our children, which is something we take very seriously.

"As has been said, we'd like the wagons to stop coming down this road.

"Also, a lower speed limit on the road would help. Children will be children, and all it takes is for one of them to step out into the road unaware.

"We do run safety initiatives with the pupils at the school, and we're having a road safety day here on November 15."