20 miles per hour speed limits could be considered outside Bracknell Forest schools, councillors have agreed – but only as one of many safety measures.

A call to consider lower speed limits was made to Bracknell Forest Council by Liberal Democrat councillors, who said parents had complained to them about dangerous driving near schools.

Liberal Democrat councillor Tina Eberle said: “I have received complaints on the road safety for all pedestrians during school drop off and collection hours from residents.

“The matter appears to be caused mainly by parents driving their children to and from school and or other impatient drivers.”

Her proposal to the council included considering other “improvements to road safety,” but explicitly named 20 miles per hour limits.

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Liberal Democrat councillor Nazar Zahuruddin argued that lower speed limits reduce the likelihood of deaths in traffic accidents. He said: “In a fast paced world the safety of our children should never be compromised for the sake of convenience.”

And Liberal Democrat councillor Patrick Smith said 20 miles per hour speed limits might be unpopular with “portions of the population.” But he said other councils had already introduced such limits outside schools.

He said: “In some ways I think it’s surprising that we do have schools currently in Bracknell where we don’t have miles an hour immediately outside.”

Labour, Conservative and Green party councillors backed the plans – but said that schools have to deal with a range of road safety issues, and there’s no “one size fits all” solution.

Conservative councillor Robert McLean said he’d been told of problems with parking around Whitegrove Primary school in Warfield. He said the council should ask head teachers about any plans to bring in new road safety measures, and councillor Eberle agreed.

Councillor McLean said: “We all as ward councillors understand the issues around speeding around schools. But so do head teachers.” He added: “On such an important topic why wouldn’t we involve head teachers in discussing what benefits their school and most importantly their pupils?”

Green Party councillor Sheila Collings said lower speeds could reduce pollution – though she warned measures such as speed humps can increase it too.

Guy Gillbe – the Labour councillor responsible for roads – said the Liberal Democrats’ proposal and the Conservatives’ change were “excellent”.

But he added: “There is no one size fits all solution to this problem and that’s why I really respect the logic that councillor McLean deployed today.

“This is an ongoing conversation – let's get the work started.”