A concerned father is so determined to stop traffic speeding past his son's school that he has offered to design a traffic calming scheme himself.

Simon Ross has won the backing of his MP and the school's headmaster.

He claims a commuter short-cut has turned a residential street into a racetrack and he wants chicanes put in to slow vehicles down before a child is hurt or killed.

The property developer lives in The Droveway, Hove, and his son is a pupil at nearby Mowden School.

Headmaster Alan Laurent has thrown his weight behind Mr Ross's campaign and has asked parents to sign a petition in its support. Hove MP Ivor Caplin has also backed him.

Mr Ross said: "I am a pretty determined person and something has to be done about this before a child is seriously injured or killed.

"I have a lot of experience in civil engineering and am prepared to design and cost a traffic-calming scheme myself, if necessary. I'm sure I could find a way to get this done for a fraction of the cost council contractors would charge."

Mr Ross grew up in the area around The Droveway but moved away from Hove. He returned with his family four months ago and his son Solomon, four, became a pupil at Mowden School, a few hundred yards up the road.

Mr Ross said: "I was appalled at how busy the road has become. It is now used as a shortcut between Dyke Road and Shirley Drive.

"Traffic speeds along and the situation is made worse by people pulling out of the car park at Cullens. There have been three near misses I have seen since we moved in."

He said the problem had increased since a traffic-calming scheme was introduced in Woodland Drive, Hove, two years ago.

That was used as a short-cut into Hove by motorists leaving the A23 and A27 at the top of Dyke Road.

Mr Ross said since then, traffic that used Woodland Drive had spread out into surrounding roads.

The Droveway was heavily used because it provided the first available straight run to Shirley Drive and the Old Shoreham Road.

Alan Laurent, who became headmaster at Mowden in September, said: "I am happy to give my support to Mr Ross's campaign. I have asked parents to sign a petition calling for calming measures."

Ivor Caplin has written to Brighton and Hove City Council asking them to investigate a traffic-calming scheme.

City council traffic engineer Benedict Stride said the whole area between Dyke Road, Dyke Road Avenue and Goldstone Crescent was being assessed for traffic calming.

An exhibition outlining the proposals will take place in the summer, giving residents a chance to have their say.