A CROSSING to ensure children can get safely to school could move a step closer with a major funding boost.

Eastleigh Borough Council is proposing to put nearly £50,000 of its developer contributions towards a potential puffin crossing on Hound Way/Hound Road, Netley – half the cost of the project.

As previously reported, mother-of-two Maria Hutchinson, 46, of Abbeyfields Close, Netley, collected a 941-signature petition and letters from children appealing for Hampshire County Council transport bosses to act.

This was after her daughter’s 12-year-old friend was hit by a car on the road in October.

Her call prompted a fresh traffic survey which found that the road’s level of traffic and pedestrians did justify a crossing.

Councillors on the Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice and Hound Local Area Committee will decide whether to grant the funding at a meeting tomorrow.