School pupils as young as 11 have been left fearing for their own safety as reckless drivers attempt to beat traffic chaos in the wake of the St Peter's Bridge closure, it is claimed.
John Taylor High School students who take the bus from Walton have had several near-misses over the last few weeks as impatient motorists mount the pavement to overtake other drivers, according to parents.
Pupils standing by the bus stop waiting for their daily commute to school have said that cars have come close to hitting them after mounting the pavement - and even beeped at a pupil to get out of the way when she refused to move.
Julie Edwards, 46, described the time she walked her daughter, Emily, to the bus stop in Coton Road on her first day of school.
She said: "This should be a fun time for them and it's honestly turned into a nightmare. It's an accident waiting to happen. I don't want to walk her; I want her to be independent. She's 11 but I have no choice. I feel if I don't walk her down there I'm being negligent."
Emily, 11, had recently broken her ankle and was walking to school wearing a plaster on her foot.
Her mother Julie said she was "absolutely horrified" to witness how many cars were mounting the single-file curb as her daughter attempted to walk to the bus stop.
Ms Edwards, of Walton, described the moment five cars mounted the curb and recklessly drove towards Emily.
She said: "The cars were driving at her, and when she refused to move, one car beeped its horn and accelerated towards her.
"It blatantly frightened the kids. When there is eventually an accident, I'm taking this further. It's just absolutely ridiculous."
She went on to say that Emily and other young pupils had been forced to hide up a driveway to get away from the hazardous motorists.
It comes after the closure of St Peter's Bridge last month saw a significant increase in traffic congestion around the town.
The works, which began on Tuesday, August 29, closed St Peter's Bridge, in Stapenhill, for three months to replace "life-expired" bearings.
The bridge is expect to reopen at the end of November.
