TRADERS fear there could be a serious injury for a pedestrian at a busy Great Malvern zebra crossing.

There have been a series of near-misses by the junction connecting Worcester Road, Bellevue Terrace and St Ann's Road. A pedestrian was also killed in a traffic collision in nearby Church Street in August.

Sarah Myers, manager at nearby pub The Unicorn, warned: "Someone is going to be seriously injured on that crossing because of the speed limit as people come racing up and down here.

"Delivery vans park on the pavement so you can't have a clear view of the crossing.

"It could have better signage or even be taken off that junction and moved up slightly as that would help a lot.

"People can get halfway across the crossing and cars are driving straight over them near enough or they don't even see them and pull out on people."

County and district councillor Beverley Nielsen has already called for 20mph limits in the area.

Cllr Nielsen is due to meet with Mike Rouse, Worcestershire County Council Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways and Transport, to discuss various issues, including the crossing.

Cllr Nielsen said: "The crossing is in a challenging position because of the complexity of the junction it is sitting alongside. I do hear from residents on their concerns about it.

"I'm coincidentally meeting with the highways cabinet member from the county council tomorrow (Friday) and we are walking around Great Malvern to look at this issue and others as well.

"I hear consistently from residents that they want more 20mph limits in Great Malvern. They want to slow the traffic down and I think, like me, they want to see us prioritise pedestrians more in the actual town centre over the car.

"We want to improve the ability of our visitors and residents alike to cross our roads without worrying about their toddlers or children or young mums with prams or people with mobility scooters being able to negotiate very busy roads.

"I would like to see the road markings smartened up and the Belisha beacons improved so the visibility for drivers that this is a crossing at this complex junction is clear and then when a resident steps onto that crossing they can be confident they are going to be able to cross safely."

A county council spokesperson said: "Our liaison engineer will be going on a site visit with the local county councillor to discuss their concerns."