MP is given road safety petition

Sophie Bywaters was 13 when she died crossing the A45

A petition calling for improved road safety on the site where a 13-year-old girl died last month has been handed to the Northampton South MP.

Sophie Bywaters died on 13 October as she crossed the A45 at Wootton.

Gemma Whitlock, who was seriously injured at the same spot in 1987 when she was eight, started the petition on hearing of Sophie's death.

The petition, which has more than 2,000 signatures demanding a footbridge on the road, was given to MP Brian Binley.

He will now show the petition to the Highways Agency when asking for the footbridge.

Ms Whitlock has previously said when she heard about Sophie: "I thought 'not another one'.

Flowers at the scene of the fatal crash

"I had to do something - my boy is growing up and I wouldn't want him crossing it."

There is also a separate petition on social networking site Facebook.

The Facebook campaign, called 'give us safe crossing from Hunsbury to Wootton A45', has been set up by a parent in the area.

The unnamed parent wrote: "I myself have been witness to kids running across both lanes of the A45 to get across the road after school."