PARENTS are urging the county council to speed up the installation of a zebra crossing outside an hotel after a second child within a year was involved in an accident while trying to cross the road.

Nicholas Ibbs, 11, escaped with bruises on the back of his head and on arm this morning after he was involved in the accident with a motorbike outside the Wateringbury Hotel at Wateringbury, near Maidstone.

Nicholas was on his way to school. His mother, Clare, of Phoenix Drive, Wateringbury, said: "A car stopped to let him cross the road to get to the bus stop, so he started to cross. A motorbike came along on the outside and he didn't see it and the rider didn't see him."

Mrs Ibbs said: "It's an incredibly busy road. The majority of children go to school in Maidstone and have to cross that road. We desperately need some sort of crossing for them, with the mornings getting dark."

The county council plans to built a zebra crossing, linking the hotel with the bus stop, by April next year. Susan Cockburn, clerk to Wateringbury Parish Council, said: "The sooner we have it in place, the better."

Gill Crawford, whose son, Ben, was injured in an accident with a car at the same spot a year ago, said: "I'd like pressure put on KCC to build the crossing before the dark winter months. Safety is paramount."