Boy hit by car on Cwmbran road days after council rejected safety measures call

Saul Cooke-Black, local democracy reporter

A boy has been hit by a car on a road near a school in Cwmbran, just days after councillors rejected calls for safety measures to be installed.

Fifteen-year-old Deacon Rostron was taken to hospital following the crash on Blenheim Road on Saturday evening.

Deacon was crossing the road near shops, when he was hit by a car travelling towards Blenheim Road Community Primary School.

“The windscreen completely smashed to pieces,” said Deacon’s mother, Caroline Trinder. “He knocked the bumper off the car and one of the headlights came off.

“He is lucky to be here.”

Deacon was taken to the Grange University Hospital where he was treated for a broken collar bone, as well as cuts and bruises.

He is now at home but will need to have an operation on his shoulder.

‘Inevitable’

Residents have been calling for road safety measures to be installed on the road, with the latest petition signed by 377 people.

The petition says residents are seeing “near-misses on a weekly basis”.

But at a Torfaen council meeting last Tuesday, November 16, councillors backed a report which did not support installing road safety measures.

Traffic surveys showed a 23 per cent increase in traffic, and a slight increase in speeds, but council officers said this was not enough to support additional road safety measures.

Mrs Trinder, whose niece was also involved in a crash on the road two years ago, has called for action to be taken following the latest incident.

“Eventually it’s going to be inevitable that somebody is going to be killed there,” said Mrs Trinder, who added that the driver was not at fault for the incident involving her son.

“Something seriously needs to be done.”

St Dials ward councillor Elizabeth Haynes, who set up the petition on behalf of constituents, is calling on Torfaen council to review its decision last week.

“It only takes one incident and this child is lucky to be alive,” she said.

‘Collision’

Gwent Police said officers, along with paramedics from Welsh Ambulance Service, attended after the crash was reported at around 5.05pm on Saturday.

“The collision involved a car and a pedestrian, a 15-year-old boy, who sustained a minor injury to his arm,” a police spokesman said.

“Enquiries are ongoing at this time and anyone with information that could assist our investigation, including CCTV or dashcam footage, should call 101, quoting log reference 2100407901.”

A Torfaen council spokesman said: “The council has been informed that Gwent Police and the ambulance service attended a road traffic collision on Saturday just after 5pm.

“The council is liaising with Gwent Police for further information on the detail of the incident.”