I am not trying to belittle the concerns of this mystery mother but, unless 'No Entry' signs are erected, she doesn't have a leg to stand on regarding her complaint.

I assume she is talking about traffic heading north on the A6 which cuts across the cobbled area on the Triangle and then continues towards Bridge Hill/Belper Lane. The fact that this stretch of road is cobbled and has (I think) two raised sections makes it difficult and extremely uncomfortable to drive over at anything above walking pace. In fact, I'm surprised there is room to cut through here at the time described, considering it is normally full of vehicles dropping off or waiting to collect children.

I live round the corner from St John's School and, on a twice daily basis, witness the fiasco that is the 'school run'. From what I have seen over the past few years, it is not the ordinary motorist who is just passing by that has to be feared, it is the parent who is dropping off or collecting their precious little charge because that is all they can think about at the time and a lot of their normal road sense goes out of the window.

I agree with brassed off. My other view is that when I was a lad we walked to school, come rain, shine, snow, floods, etc. The kids of today are wrapped up in cotton wool, get no exercise and are lazy. Lets get kids walking to school again, even if the schools or even local parents setup a walking bus, where certain parents collect other children and walk them to school......unless the parents are too busy or too lazy to take any kind of interest in helping the kids health, and also helping to keep some unnessecary cars off the road. Its not rush hour in my experience that causes congestion these days .....its the school run!

If you want to see people cutting the lights, live on Wellington Court! People regularly speed up the Court, towards the very bust Mulberry Bush Nursery, then turn left through Field Lane car park and out onto Field Lane, avoiding the lights on Bridge Street. It's dangerous, illegal and infuriating, but in spite of protests, nothing is done about it!

BrassMonkey, you are correct when you assume I am not a parent. However, by not being emotionally involved, it gives me the chance to stand back and look at the bigger picture.

I can fully appreciate a parent's concern for their offspring but some of them want everything their own way to the extent of excluding everybody else. The parents of the children attending Long Row School do not have the exclusive right to use the area around the Triangle, although some of them think so. A couple of years ago, I tried to drive down to the Meadows for a meeting which was scheduled for the same time as the school finished but some inconsiderate parent stood on the cobbled area and wouldn't let me pass as she claimed I was just trying to cut through to Bridge Foot. After a few moments of the northbound traffic building up behind me and some choice comments from the drivers, she eventually let me through.

As for your comment regarding it is not safe to let children out nowadays, how are they going to prepare for the big wide world when their parents are no longer there to hold their hand? I admit the gang and drug culture has greatly increased over the past few years but, if you were referring to paedophiles or such like, there are no more out there now per head of population than there was 50 years ago. The only difference is nowadays we have a far more intensive media coverage so news travels faster and a set of paranoia-generating tabloid newspapers who brainwash the gullible into believing there is a deviant behind every tree.

BrassMonkey, you are missing the points I am trying to make.

1. Whether I am a parent or not is irrelevant. In fact, not being a parent gives me the advantage of looking at the overall situation with a dispassionate eye.

2. As for parents causing congestion around the Triangle by dropping off or collecting their children, I have a couple of questions:

i) How many of the children live within a reasonable walking distance of the school and is it beyond the realms of possibility for their parents to walk them to and from school? FYI, I attended both Long Row Infant and Junior schools and always walked in both directions twice a day (I didn't have school dinners). Admittedly, this was only possible because my mother was a full-time housewife and there wasn't as much road traffic then but the aerobic exercise of climbing Mill Street ten times a week did me no harm.

ii) At St John's, I see a lot of 'one car, one parent, one child'. Is it not possible for more parents to organise between themselves a rota where one parent drops off or collects 3-4 children?

3. Regarding your comment about there being 'newspapers and news on TV back then', we now have a 24 hours a day news coverage in this country, whether it be via newspapers, TV, radio, the Internet or whatever. Nowadays, if someone is abusing children in, for example, Cornwall or the Shetlands, we in Derbyshire will hear about it far more quickly than we would have a few years ago. Newspapers in particular like these stories because they can be sensationalised which, in turn, sell copies.

In conclusion and these will be my final words on this story, please let me remind you of the opening sentence of my first post in which I said I am not trying to belittle this mystery mother's concerns nor am I advocating the actions of the motorists she claims are cutting through the Triangle. However, unless some form of vehicular restriction is placed on this area, motorists have the right to use it. Also, if a res

I do wish the Belper News would warn us about their character restriction. The final sentence in my previous post should read:

Also, if a restriction was implemented, it would surely also apply to the vehicles of parents dropping off or collecting their children.

Just wanted to say that Iw as born in 1982, and that all my childhood was free and unrestricted. I walked to school, as there was no lift etc. I dont think Belper has changed since then. We arent talking the 1950's we are talking 20 years and less. Anyway stop wrapping your kids up in cotton wool Brass Monkey! I agree with what Brassed off of Belper says because you have to look at all problems from different viewpoints....not just a parents......other people live in Belper too you know!

Quote fom BrassMonkey "There's a reason why the Belper News put a character restriction on here, most people don't write essays, they've got better things to do with their time!"

Such as what? Being personally offensive to other posters because they hold a different viewpoint to you? I have no problem with a character restriction but it would be helpful if the count was displayed whilst a post was being constructed so, if necessary, it could be edited accordingly. As the restriction does not appear in the preview mode, I assumed my last post would appear in toto.

I know I said my last post was going to be my final words on this topic but BrassMonkey's latest tirade needed a reply. It is painfully obvious he/she is not willing to listen to anyone else's views and can only see their side of the debate so, King Street Resident, I would suggest we leave him/her alone. Remember there are none so blind as those who will not see.

Thank you Brassed Off for pointing out that the preview doesn't warn you when your comment has too many characters - I was never aware of that. I'll be in touch with the company's IT department to see if we can amend that.

Many thanks, Lindsey.