A mum who lost her son in a school bus tragedy says she fears another child will be killed in the ongoing "daily traffic carnage".
Ashley Talbot, 15, died after a school minibus driven by a PE teacher at Maesteg Comprehensive School in south Wales ran him over as it approached the gates to leave for a rugby match at a nearby school in 2014.
Now Ashley's mother, Melanie Talbot, 50, says traffic has "got worse" outside the school and could kill another child.
Melanie, who revealed she has breast cancer and says her health has declined rapidly since her son's death, is gathering support among parents at the school for an action group to help pupils arrive and leave safely.
She has enlisted the support of local politicians and is calling for an Ashley's Law to force councils to put ALL roads around schools UK-wide on lockdown during the morning arrivals and afternoon exoduses.
Ashley, a gifted chess player who had plans to become a car mechanic the following year, was struck by a minibus driven by sports teacher Chris Brooks, who is still at the school. Mr Brooks was never prosecuted for the collision and the boy's death was recorded as "accidental".
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"Chris Brooks came out of this scot-free. I'm not saying it was his fault because teenage boys are prone to run around but he kept his job while we lost our beautiful son.
"At Ashley's funeral, one of the school governors even had the nerve to ask everyone to spare a thought for Mr Brooks. This governor was standing there with Ashley's coffin directly behind him and telling us we needed to be thinking about Mr Brooks' wellbeing. That took the biscuit."
Her husband, John, 43, who helped raise Ashley from the age of 18 months, said: "If I hadn't been so devastated, I'd have clouted him for saying that."
Later, the local authority, Bridgend Council, was fined £300,000 for health and safety breaches and ordered to pay £29,228 in court costs in relation to Ashley's death.
But, Melanie told the Sun Online, the school offered her just £5,000 compensation for losing her son.
She said: "Initially, that was all they offered me for his life. They offered the same to my husband, John, and Ashley's sister, Natasha. It was so hurtful. I know that no amount of money will ever bring Ashley back but their offer was downright insulting.
"Our lawyer asked for more and they eventually upped the total compensation to £75,000. They said that if they had to pay any more, they'd have to cut services like the school buses, which is rather ironic because they had five 40-seater buses at that time and now they operate just two.
"But that's done now. What keeps me awake at night now is that lessons don't seem to have been learnt when it comes to the children's safety traffic-wise.
"The buses they've kept on no longer move at going-home time until all the kids have dispersed or boarded, which is a positive. But that has merely moved the problem onto the roads outside the school gates."
With fewer buses, it means more cars are pulling up to collect children. They aren't allowed to use the school car park so they just park wherever they can. Some double park, some use the grass verges, others park across junctions.
She said: "It's pandemonium. You'll see kids running between the cars but because there's so much traffic, they often can's see an oncoming moving vehicle. I just know someone else is going to die there. I'm fighting tooth and nail to make sure that doesn't happen.
"I won't rest until I know it's safe for kids to arrive at school and leave at the end of the day. I never want any other parent to hear the words telling them their child has been killed at school."
Melanie, who also suffered a stroke eight weeks ago and has blood clots in her legs, says she was "perfectly healthy" until her son died.
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As she awaits surgery on her legs and hopes for remission from her cancer, she has been contacted by other parents who are concerned about the traffic chaos around the Maesteg school.
"My health has gone downhill so quickly since Ashley died. I have breast cancer, blood clots and I recently suffered a stroke. My poor health makes everything I'm trying to do so much harder, but for as long as I'm alive I'll keep fighting for the children's safety."
Sitting in an armchair beneath a bright green banner presented to her by Ashley's 2014 classmates, which reads "RIP Ashley – heaven has gained another angel", she said: “I've had other parents tagging in a post on Facebook basically asking me for help.
What keeps me awake at night now is that lessons don't seem to have been learnt when it comes to the children's safety traffic-wise
“There are mums who are afraid that there’s going to be another fatality at the school.
“It's just absolutely shocking. It's nearly eight years since my son died and this is still going on.
"The school has scrapped most of its buses, which has led to more cars being in the area to collect and drop off the kids.
“At the end of the day if another child dies at that school I’ll end up doing something stupid because I can’t cope with that.
“I just can’t let another parent go through what I’ve been through
“The traffic is so bad that it's blocking all of the junctions so when other parents are turning up with their kids at school and they’re being dumped at these junctions.
“The kids can't see the other cars coming around the parked cars and they just run out
“It's just a free for all. I want it stopped. It should be stopped at every school in the UK
“There should be escorts leading kids from the cars to the schools safely.
“This should not be happening in this day and age.”
At the school this week, despite the weather being warm and dry, more than 100 cars turned up at collection time on the 200-metre hill leading up to the school.
Cars blocked side roads running off the narrow hill road as the few marked parking spaces – around 25 – were quickly taken.
Keith Lukins, who arrives half an hour early to ensure he can park his private 16-seater minibus as close to the school gates as possible at collection time, said:
"It can be Bedlam when the kids leave for the afternoon. You'll see them climbing over the fences, running down the banks and dodging traffic in the road as they make their way home on foot or go to their parents' cars.
"It seems pretty obvious to me that what's needed is more 40-seater buses to be laid on by the school or council so that the large majority of the children can get a lift home safely. That way, they'd all be contained in the school car park and the buses could wait until everyone was aboard before moving off.
"There's be no need for all the other traffic then and the ones living closest to the scholl could walk home safely."
Keith, 73, said his firm is hired privately by parents living three miles away in Caerau to take and collect their children for £15 each per week.
"I know I'm talking myself out of a job, but their safety has to come first. They've stopped most of the buses to save money and it's reckless, in my opinion."
Waiting nearby at the top of the hill 50 metres from the school gates is grandmother Doris Watson, 76, who has arrived to collect her 14-year-old grandson because his school bus was among those the council scrapped.
She said: "The traffic is so bad it will take us 20 minutes to drive half a mile when he comes out.
"It is gridlock every morning and every afternoon. But that creates dangers for the children because they think they can run around in the road if nothing's moving. But it only takes one vehicle to pull out suddenly and a child could be hit. I like the sound of an Ashley's Law.
Rolande Richards, 58, was at the school to collect her 14-year-old son. She said: "It is chaos. There are cars double-parked all the way upi the hill and at every junction some days.
"It's really busy and there are always lots of frayed tempers.
"It's a wonder there aren't accidents more often.
"Naturally, the children are excitable when they come out of school and they lark around in the road but if one of them were to fall in front of a car or not see a vehicle turning, there could be serious consequences that I wouldn't like to think too much about. Something has got to be done to make this safer."
Another mum, who gave her name as Lisa, said she would welcome an Ashley's Law. "It's worse in winter when it's getting dark early and raining," she said.
"It can be horrendous. We need a better plan than the one we've got at the moment, that's for sure. It's getting worse. and I feel the lesson we learnt when poor Ashley died has now been forgotten."
There was no sign of Mr Brooks at the end of the school day, but Melanie said: “My son would now be 23. He was 15 when he was killed.
“The teacher was never charged because it's private property. He’s still working at the school.
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“I’ve warned the police that if I ever bump into him I will rip his eyes out. That will never change. Accident, no accident, he still killed my son.
“I can’t move away from this area because my son is buried around the corner from me. I’m down there every day.”
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