MOTORISTS caught speeding through a busy junction must be stopped, says an independent councillor.

Parents and residents have been up in arms after Essex County Council scrapped the school crossing patrol on Seaview Road, Canvey, outside Leigh Beck Infant and Junior Schools.

The council will review the decision following pressure from Castle Point MP Rebecca Harris and will take into account traffic entering the junction from Point Road.

Colin Letchford, independent councillor for Canvey East, says he bought his own speed gun and caught motorists driving along the road at 42mph. The speed limit is 20mph.

He said: “I saw a mum with a child in a pushchair and three children crossing the road. A car had to slam the brakes on and stopped just three feet away from the children.

“I’ve been clocking motorists doing 37mph and 42mph.

Modern cars accelerate very quickly and they are coming straight up and going over the limit.”

There are chicanes, signs displaying 20mph limit, a zebra crossings and signs warning motorists to slow down already in place.

Mr Letchford said: “The problem is some of the signs are very faded and people just don’t notice them, but between the zebra crossing, the mini-roundabout and the chicanes I don’t knowhow people are getting up to these speeds.”

Despite the speed calming measures parents say cars and vans continue to speed down the road and often cause problems parking on the pavement.

Parent Alison Pettit, 44, of May Avenue, Canvey, said: “You’ve got cars zooming down all the time and all the shops have cars parked outside and still people try and zoom past. If the road is clear they go round those chicanes like nobody’s business.

“It’s horrendous. Maybe there could be speed humps, but I don’t know what else can be done.

“You can be walking down the road and there are vans pulling on and off the path constantly – there have been so many near misses.”