A scheme for a new staggered crossing across Dereham's busy Station Road would stop schoolchildren risking their lives on their way to school, town bosses have said.

A scheme for a new staggered crossing across Dereham's busy Station Road would stop schoolchildren risking their lives on their way to school, town bosses have said.

Norfolk County Council has come up with a scheme which would see an island in the centre of Station Road near the cross-road junction with Norwich Road, Norwich Street and Matsell Way.

The plans were revealed less than a week after a woman in a motorised wheelchair was hit by a car as she tried to cross the road.

She had to be taken to hospital with leg and head injuries after the crash.

The new crossing island would be larger than the current island in the centre of the road, put there for people to stop on while crossing Station Road.

Councillors at Dereham Town Council's planning committee last Tuesday welcomed the scheme but said it should be further south in the road - more towards Morrisons supermarket in Station Road.

Robin Goreham said the reason for the new island was because children aged 11 to 16 were risking their lives crossing the road in front of cars and lorries instead of using a pedestrian crossing.

An order to prohibit traffic carrying out a U-turn around the island so they double back on themselves into Station Road was also supported by the council.

A consultation on the scheme ends on November 20.