A survey which claims Luton is the “least safe” place for children to walk to school has been slammed by the council.
The AA survey of 22,000 Streetwatch volunteers found 34 per cent agreed it’s “not safe” for children to walk in Luton, making it the worst in the country.
A Luton Council spokesperson said they don’t recognise the claim and can’t find “any sound basis” for it.
The spokesperson said: “Our own surveys have revealed that 84 per cent of people in Luton feel safe in their communities and crime has fallen by 12 per cent in the last year.
“ In addition, the Council is continuing to work hard to improve Luton’s walking, cycling and public transport infrastructure, last year for example improving more than 2,000m of cycleway and footpath, providing cycle training to more than 2,150 pupils and employing the CCTV enforcement vehicle to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists around schools.
“Improvements to routes have taken place in Dallow Downs, Chaul End, Challney, High Town, Bramingham and Sundon Park, and thanks to ongoing work by the Council’s road safety team, more than 70 per cent of children are now usually travelling to school on foot or by bike, putting us in one of the top ten councils in the country (source: Department of Transport).
“The number of children injured in road accidents in Luton also continues to fall because of our dedicated road safety team working on both educational and physical engineering measures to improve the safety of all road users.
The safest areas for children to walk, according to the AA report, are the Isle of Mann, Dundee, Berwick and Borders, Kirkcaldy and St Albans.
Almost all respondents (94 per cent) said they believe children should be encouraged to walk more.