ICY roads outside schools should be gritted to protect children from being hurt or killed.

That is the opinion of one woman whose vehicle skidded on an icy bend and crashed into another car. But she said if a child had been standing near the corner, or had walked out in front of her, she would have been unable to stop in the slippery conditions.

Sarah Raper, 25, of Elmlands Grove, York, works as a play worker at Dunnington Children Ltd, a playgroup sited next to Dunnington Primary School.

Miss Raper said she understands that all the roads in the villages cannot be gritted in icy weather because of the time and cost.

But she said roads outside schools should be treated because of the risk of a child being injured or killed if a driver loses control during the freezing weather.

She said: "Coming round the corner my car just slipped and I hit another car.

"The thing that's upset me the most is that if a child had walked out in front of my car it would have carried on going and I could have hit a child. The children need to be put first, especially outside a school."

As it happened, the only thing hurt in the accident will be Miss Raper's purse. As well as smashing the indicator light and denting the bonnet and side panel of her VW Polo, she caused more extensive damage to the Volvo estate car she crashed into.

A spokesman for City of York Council said the main road up to Dunnington Primary School is gritted, but confirmed the lanes near to where the school is sited were not.

She said the council spends £500,000 a year on gritting and treats 50 per cent of the roads in its area. She said this is thought to be a higher proportion than most other councils and added that drivers should always take care and drive to the conditions when out on the area's roads.

Karen Bradley, the manager of Dunnington Children Ltd, has added her voice to the call for gritting outside schools as she had a similar experience to Miss Raper.

Miss Bradley said: "Fortunately I did not hit anybody, but I went flying across the same bend. I've got a 4x4 and I skidded. I came round the bend at 11.15am, and it was a sheet of ice. My main concern is for Sarah but also the fact that this is outside a school.

"It's an accident waiting to happen."