Road safety call after girl, 5, is hit by car

MARLEIGH McGiffen -Whitehead was injured near her grandmother's home in Randolph Street

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

THE family of a five-year-old girl hit by a car just yards from her grandmother's front door is calling for traffic-calming measures on their Limeside street.

Marleigh McGiffin-Whitehead was visiting her grandmother in Randolph Street at around 5pm on Friday, July 22, when she ran out into the road from behind a parked vehicle and was struck by the car.

Neighbours called an ambulance and the Higher Failsworth Primary pupil was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital, where she was treated for a fractured left leg.

Marleigh's grandmother Jane Gallagher said: "I'd just sat down in the kitchen and was calling her to mind the road when the accident happened.

"The driver wasn't going fast - he was so upset about what had happened, he even went to the hospital to see how she was.

"I'm just glad her injuries weren't worse."

Mum Barbara Whitehead (35), from nearby Hawthorn Road, said she ran over immediately after receiving a phone call about the accident.

She said: "It was horrible - Marleigh was screaming and crying.

"She was so lucky. I was told she just flew into the air on impact and neighbours heard the thud. The driver was devastated. I'm just so glad he wasn't going fast."

Marleigh, who was set to enjoy her first family holiday to Cornwall, will now have to remain in a full leg plaster cast for six weeks.

Her family is calling for measures such as speed bumps and signs to be introduced on the road, which they say is used by motorists as a short-cut to and from Hollins Road.

Barbara said: "We definitely need something. The volume of traffic down the road needs addressing, along with the congestion on the street.

"Drivers use this road as a cut-through and there are lots of kids that live here with nowhere near for them to play safely."

Concerned neighbours said the amount of parked cars made it difficult to see the road, and they feared another accident could happen again unless steps are taken.

Neighbour Margaret McAiney said: "This is the first accident we've had on the street but it won't be the last.

"The problem is we are parallel to Hollins Road and people use this as a rat-run, especially at tea time.

"There needs to be signs at the end of the street to slow cars down or speed bumps in the road."