A NURSERY boss has called on council chiefs to install a pedestrian crossing across one of Bolton's busiest roads after her staff were forced to stop traffic to get the children across.

Sonia Biggs had to escort a group of 25 four-year-olds from Meadow Hill Nursery across Chorley New Road for their annual education trip to catch a bus to the Octagon Theatre in Bolton town centre on Thursday.

Mrs Biggs has campaigned for 16 years to get a pedestrian crossing near her nursery, situated near Bolton Golf Club, but her efforts have proved fruitless.

Mrs Biggs said: "What are the council doing? Are they waiting for a child to be killed before they construct a pedestrian crossing? If they want me to buy some black and white paint I will buy the paint, go out and paint the crossing myself."

For the last five years the children had been given a police escort over the road for their annual trip but this year they say they were told by officers that they would not be able to attend. It is extremely difficult to get 25 young four-year-old children across a busy road. My staff and I should not have to physically stop the traffic to get children across a busy road."

A spokesman for Bolton Council, said: "Although we have not formally surveyed the location outside of the nursery and Golf Club entrance, we did carry out some pedestrian and vehicle surveys a little further along the road to determine whether a pelican crossing would be justifiable.

"These showed that the area fell a long way short of the criteria required for providing a crossing, and if anything, these locations appeared busier than the area outside the nursery.

There is no history of injury accidents so it is unlikely that we could recommend the introduction of a pedestrian crossing at this location."