The Greater Manchester town where the school run is a 'living nightmare'

Oldham Council is trialling a new traffic scheme to tackle a notorious ‘chaos corner’ in Lees. Two school streets’ will be trialled outside Hey with Zion Primary School and St Edwards RC Primary School to create ‘safer’ and ‘traffic-free’ school runs.

Roads around the two schools are known to turn into a 'living nightmare' during school rush hour, according to local residents.

But with the new scheme, the cul-de-sacs around Medlock Way will be closed to school traffic during drop-off and pick-up times. Only residents and business owners with permits will be allowed to use the roads during the 30 or 60 minute periods in the morning and afternoon.

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The idea is to encourage kids and parents to arrive on foot or by bike instead.

Local councillor Mark Kenyon, who has been working with colleagues to introduce the scheme for years, said: “Up to 300 cars try and access two primary schools on one cul-de-sac twice a day… It’s the very definition of an accident waiting to happen.

“There’s been so many other efforts over the years to fix this problem, so this really is the last chance to make these streets safer for kids walking to school and for the long suffering neighbours of the schools.”

One of those long-suffering neighbours, Natalie Mills, regularly drives a twenty-minute diversion on her way home from work to avoid the ‘carnage’ and ‘standstill traffic’ of the school pick-up rush. She suggested the situation frequently became dangerous because drivers often ‘lost their temper’, 'beeping' and ‘mounting curbs’. There is also very little space for emergency vehicles to pass through, she said.

A council spokesperson added: "Numerous residents have