A HEADTEACHER has welcomed news that the road outside his school is to be made safer after two car crashes in a fortnight.

Ken Howell, headteacher at Smithills School, has been calling for action over a dangerous stretch of Smithills Dean Road for four years.

Bolton Council has now confirmed it is to install refuge islands and new road markings as part of a £50,000 scheme to get under way in July.

Two weeks ago, a woman had to be cut free from her car after a crash with a van near the school entrance.

And at 6am on Monday, a BMW Z3, stolen from the driveway of a house in the road, hit a lamppost and careered into a ditch.

Mr Howell said: "It's not before time because it's an extremely dangerous piece of road outside a large secondary school.

"People come off Scout Road and it's easy to gain speed along there. Luckily, neither of these recent accidents involved children. They happened before the school was open."

Mr Howell said the school's senior staff patrol the area outside the school every evening to try to ensure children get home safely.

"It's difficult because we have no power at all on a public highway," he said.

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "We are working on proposals to make Smithills Dean Road safer.

"They include traffic islands to assist pedestrians crossing the road and hatch markings to restrict the speed of traffic.

"We will be discussing the proposals with ward councillors and local residents before the scheme is finalised. We anticipate that work will start in July."