Determined Arundel schoolgirl launches a colourful campaign to stop cars speeding down her road

A determined schoolgirl from Arundel has written letters to the local authorities in an effort to stop cars speeding down her road.
Daisy Jenkins, 10, with the colourful letter she wrote in Ford Road, ArundelDaisy Jenkins, 10, with the colourful letter she wrote in Ford Road, Arundel
Daisy Jenkins, 10, with the colourful letter she wrote in Ford Road, Arundel

When you ask most ten-year-olds what they want, stopping cars speeding is not the typical response.

But Daisy Jenkins from Arundel is not your typical schoolgirl. Fed up with motorists flouting the speed limit in Ford Road, where she lives, the 10-year-old Year Five pupil at Saint Philip’s Catholic Primary School in London Road, Arundel, sent letters to Arun District Council and the mayor of Arundel Wendy Eve in an attempt to get speed bumps installed.

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In her letter, she said that she and her brother were sometimes woken up by ‘the sound of motorbike engines zooming past’ and that on the way to school she would see cars driving at 90mph.

Daisy Jenkins, 10, with the colourful letter she wrote in Ford Road, ArundelDaisy Jenkins, 10, with the colourful letter she wrote in Ford Road, Arundel
Daisy Jenkins, 10, with the colourful letter she wrote in Ford Road, Arundel

Speaking to the Gazette, Daisy said she would like to be able to walk to school without worrying about her safety. She said: “My best friend Autumn lives nearby and she thinks they should have done this a long time ago.

“I really want traffic lights or speed bumps in the road, and I just hope nothing happens and no-one gets hurt, because luckily no-one has been hurt before but there is still time for it.”

Although she hoped to be a forensic scientist one day, Daisy also has a flair for art, which she put into practice by colouring her letter.

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In a letter back from Arun District Council, community safety officer Cathryn French said it was ‘the most beautifully-coloured letter the team has ever received’.

She said they would pass on Daisy’s concerns to Sussex Police, which oversees Operation Crackdown – a campaign against antisocial driving – and West Sussex County Council’s safer roads team.

On June 5, Cathryn wrote back to say she had given Daisy’s details to a police officer on the Community Speedwatch team.

Daisy’s mother Jane Jenkins, 44, said she felt ‘really proud’ of her daughter.

She said: “She wrote it in her bedroom on her own.

“It is great that she did something as she felt strongly about it – it is something we want to encourage.”