A group of concerned Onchan residents are calling for a 20mph speed limit to be instated on the main road in the village from Corkill’s Garage through to Lakeside.

Parents have said their children having near misses from cars speeding through the village and not stopping at pedestrian crossings. Many drivers even continue through red traffic lights with no regard for anyone in the process of crossing the road.

The residents have set up a Facebook page where many photos and videos of incidents have been shared called ’20mph Main Road Onchan - Keep Our Children Safe’.

Pictures shared here show the narrow pavements in the village, unclear pedestrian crossings, and faded paint on the zebra crossing which makes it difficult to be seen by drivers speeding along the main road - the latter of which was addressed by the Department of Infrastructure on Friday (July 2) - the day after photos of the faded crossing were posted on the group.

One video on the page clearly shows a car driving through a red light while the green man is showing and a person is attempting to cross - something the group insists is a common occurrence as the lights themselves are set back from the road and positioned on a slight angle.

The group has adopted the acronym SOCKS - ’Save Our Community, Kill Speed’ and want to raise awareness regarding the number of near-misses witnessed in the village on a daily basis.

Clare Gerrard, a member of the group, said it was a years-long issue which is ’such a worry for everyone’.

She said: ’People need to stop driving on automatic pilot - they need to be aware of what’s happening around them.’

Mrs Gerrard also recalled an incident last year in which her two daughters were nearly hit by a car, which led to police involvement.

As the driver in question denied the incident, no further action was taken.

Some steps to improve road safety in the village were taken in 2017 following a public meeting held with the Department of Infrastructure after a number of near misses.

A DoI-employed consultant recommended a number of traffic calming measures which are currently in place in the village, including a reduction of road width in places, and a speed warning sign.

Mrs Gerrard commended the support of MHKs Rob Callister and Julie Edge, who supported these changes, but said while the measures were successful to some degree, ’It’s not enough.’

She said: ’On average there are two near misses a day on the crossings.

’We were strong in requesting the 20mph speed limit [in 2017] but this was discounted.’

The group stressed that their concern is for the entire community, and that they do not want a future potential fatality to be the trigger for changes to be made.