Parents, teachers and pupils at a Marlow school are pleading with the council to lower the "outrageous" 60mph speed limit outside the gates.

Danesfield School is one of the few Bucks primaries on a national speed limit route, with head Sarah Morgan saying Bucks County Council has a "duty of care" to pupils.

She says near misses are a regular occurrence, with parents struggling to pull in and out of the school due to traffic thundering past on the A4155 that passes its front gate.

And with children forced to cross the road and negotiate the busy route to use the nearby bus stop, towards Marlow, Mrs Morgan insists the council must sit up and take notice before tragedy strikes.

She said: "Our goal is to ensure that parents with their children and staff can access the school safely, and it’s about stopping a serious accident before it happens.

"Pulling out on to the road, especially from the staff car park, cars and motorbikes come round the bend at a great speed.

"People experience problems on a daily basis. The council has a duty of care to our children to persuade them to change their speed limit.

"This is a campaign that Bucks County Council really needs to take seriously."

The 60mph limit stretches west all the way to the outskirts of Marlow, where a brief 40mph limit turns into a 30mph zone in town.

It has emerged that a previous attempt to change the speed limit was agreed in principle, but funding could not be found.

Danesfield has now launched an e-petition entitled ‘Brake, don’t break - 30 not 60’ which has already attracted well over 500 signatures.

It comes after Thames Valley Police ran a joint road safety project and speed awareness campaign at Danesfield in conjunction with nearby schools Ibstone and Frieth - both of which lie on 30mph roads.

This included a poster competition judged at the school last month by TV star Phillip Schofield, with the winning poster designs currently displayed throughout the village and being used to help front Danesfield’s new campaign.

Guidance surrounding the changing of speed limits includes assessing the number risk to "vulnerable road users", with Mrs Morgan insisting the risks posed to pupils satisfies the criteria.

Medmenham Parish Council is also backing the effort, with councillor Amanda Baker writing to Steve Baker over the "battle to reduce the outrageous 60mph speed limit" outside the primary school.

Once the petition has closed to signatures next month it will be considered by Transport for Buckinghamshire, which will involve councillor Jean Teesdale and transport Cabinet member Mark Shaw in drafting a response.

Bucks County Council spokesman Richard Wells said: "The main A4155 road near Danesfield School was reviewed in 2008 as part of a countywide speed limit review that was completed in 2013.

"It was agreed to advertise a 40mph speed limit at a later date, but Council budgets were re-prioritised and no further funding was available for reviewing speed limits. This means that although a 40mph speed limit was agreed in principle in 2008, it would be subject to a re-assessment and public consultation. 

"Every petition is carefully considered on its merits and we aim to let the lead petitioner know how it will be handled within 20 working days of receipt.

"In the case of the Danesfield ‘Brake Don’t Break’ campaign, the petition and response will be raised at the autumn meeting of the South West Chilterns and Marlow Local Area Forum."