RESIDENTS of a narrow Tavistock road are calling for a crackdown on speeding motorists they say are endangering their lives.

The demand has been heightened following a narrow escape from injury for a resident and his child.

Michael Peach was walking home up Springhill when a tractor mounted the pavement to avoid an oncoming car that was travelling too fast.

He said: ?The tractor was forced to mount the pavement where we had been standing only seconds before.

?Had we still been there I don?t believe we would have stood a chance.?

Mr Peach said he had written to Devon County Council Highways Department on numerous occasions outlining residents? concerns and had contacted the police about collisions on the hill.

He said: ?The dangers caused by speeding traffic are a long-standing problem for residents of the area as well as for staff, patients and visitors to Tavistock Hospital.

?Accidents occur literally inches from our front doors ? separate incidents last year saw my own front wall demolished twice in one week.?

Springhill, the only road to the hospital, is steep with sharp bends and has been the scene of many minor accidents in recent years.

Sue Scrivener, locality manager for Tavistock Hospital, said: ?We are concerned for the safety of our patients and staff.

?There is very little parking in the hospital grounds so patients and visitors frequently park elsewhere and have to cross Springhill.

?Our patients, many of whom are elderly, cannot walk very quickly, which puts them in danger when faced with the speed of traffic on the hill.

?I think it is more luck than judgement that has meant us escaping a serious accident thus far.?

Vehicular access to the hospital also caused difficulties.

She said: ?People have real problems accessing and exiting the hospital ? from a stationary point on Springhill it is hard to pull out into the flow of traffic.

?Very often there are near-miss accidents avoided only because hospital users pull up short or oncoming traffic swerves.

?We want something done before an accident occurs ? not after it?s too late.?

And Tavistock ambulanceman Roy Willcocks said it would help the ambulance service if people drove safely on the hill: ?We have problems getting in and out of the hospital entrance and are often caught out trying to rejoin the traffic on the hill.

?You look in both directions and it?s clear for as far as you can see, but as you pull out a car will hare round each corner and you have to stand on the anchors to avoid a collision.?

But Paul Marshall from Devon County Council said a speed survey of the area and data revealed the majority of road users showed a good compliance with the 30mph speed limit ? those exceeding 35mph were few and far between.

He added: ?We did have some anomalies in the results with people apparently going very fast indeed, but we believe these were caused by inaccuracies in the recording capacity of the mechanical equipment.

?We believe the pavement mounting issue stems not from excess speed but from motorists parking in dangerous spots on the hill, causing vehicles to pull out around them.

?As a result, vehicles take on bends whilst in the middle of the road and become an obstruction to oncoming traffic.

?We are taking action to prevent parking along Springhill which we hope will resolve this issue.?

He said that, while views from residents and the hospital were taken into account, accident data for Springhill did not support requests for further action to be taken.