There is still a sense of shock in Broughton as locals take in the news of this morning's fatal collision between a bin lorry and a cyclist. Flowers have been left at the site, and parents collecting children from the adjacent school this afternoon talked in clusters, digesting the implications.
Although there is no proof that these factors contributed to the incident, residents are raising concerns about vehicle speeds on East Claremont Street, and traffic volumes (significantly increased lately during the temporary closure of Broughton Road).
Alison Sneddon has written to neighbours and Broughton Primary School staff in an effort to start a campaign for further Council-funded road-safety measures. She regards today's tragedy as an accident which was waiting to happen.
'I live on the ground floor in East Claremont Street, and although there are speed bumps, traffic soars over the bumps at great speed. Lorries and cars overtake and ignore the fact that there is a school nearby.'
She is now calling for the road to be narrowed, and for the installation of animated signs which react to drivers going too fast by flashing their speed.
Fortunately, the collision occurred before most primary pupils were in the area, and headteacher Alan Devine says children arriving afterwards were ushered into school unaware of the distressing scene nearby.