Residents fighting for safer roads in a Shropshire border village where a nine-year-old boy died following a collision with two cars have met police to call for safety measures.

People in Overton, near Ellesmere, met police chiefs yesterday and handed over a large number of letters calling for traffic calming measures on the A539 Wrexham Road, where Robert Gaunt was run over.

Robert, of Overton, died in hospital from multiple injuries two days after he was involved in a collision with two cars on the outskirts of the village on March 19.

Following the tragedy residents have been putting pen to paper to demand traffic calming measures along the road.

So far more than 500 template letters, which residents can personalise in their own words, have been handed out to villagers with more than 100 already being sent off.

About 100 more of the letters were handed in to Superintendent Simon Shaw, the head of roads policing for North Wales Police, when he visited Overton yesterday.

Robert James Gaunt

He said: “We have received a large number of letters from concerned residents regarding the speed limits and speed enforcement in the area.

“I will make sure that the local authority officials responsible for the speed limits are aware of the strong feeling that exists within Overton and I will make sure villagers get a full reply.

“We will be doing more speed surveys in the area and on the approaches to the village.”

Mick Pinder, owner of The Corner Shop in Overton, said: “Before the latest incident the mood in the village was that the speeding traffic in the village needed to be reduced.

“Today we have tried to highlight the problem again and bring it to the attention of police who have been very supportive and are working hard to look at these limits.

“The support for this in the village has been great.”

Overton resident Marianne Rogers said: “It’s very comforting to see some kind of response from the police.

“I hope it’s not too little too late and villagers intend to continue petitioning to take action and slow the traffic down.”

• David Lunn, 61, of Wrexham, has been remanded in custody having been charged in connection with Robert’s death.

By Tom Johannsen