A teacher who spent two years campaigning for road safety measures outside her home has told how she almost died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Mother-of-four Vicki Crowther suffered serious leg injuries in the crash, which happened in front of her teenage son.

The special needs teacher was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where doctors set both her broken legs in plaster.

She has been unable to return to her job at Varndean School and can only walk with the aid of a frame.

The accident happened in Ditchling Road, Brighton, as she locked her car after collecting her son Guy, 15, from a guitar lesson.

It is believed the driver clipped a traffic island as he sped up the hill.

Mrs Crowther and her husband John, a driving instructor, have spent years sending letters and holding meetings with councillors, police and council officers to get traffic calming installed.

She said: "They do not realise the knock-on effect on families when they speed.

"This is going to go on and on. I'm not the first and I won't be the last."

Janet McGill, who has lived in Ditchling Road for 20 years, said: "We feel we have got nowhere and Vicki's accident has revved us up again.

"We were terribly shocked by it but we expected something like this to happen.

"Vicki's accident happened in the winter but the scariest time is the warm summer evenings when lots of lads driving to the clubs go down the hill at about 60mph.

"That's when you fear something ghastly might happen."

Another neighbour, Robin Dance has sent countless letters to councillors and police officers from as far back as January 2001.

He said some improvements were made after a meeting with the council's traffic officers but no speed management controls, such as cameras, have been installed.

Mr Dance said: "Speeding vehicles pose an immediate and daily threat not only to other vehicles and their drivers and passengers but also to pedestrians."

There are five schools close to the route and many shops close to the busy Fiveways junction.

Mr Dance added: "No effective action has been taken by the council or police despite requests over two years."

Councillor Rik Child, who represents St Peter's ward, said some traffic-calming measures were being considered but the road was well down the list of priorities for the council.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "We are sorry to hear about this dreadful incident.

"Traffic calming for Ditchling Road is planned. It could involve things like build-outs from the kerb and pedestrian refuges. There won't be speed humps as it is a bus route.

"It's not clear whether speed was an issue in this accident.

"But no amount of traffic calming would have prevented the appalling driving or the actions of this particular motorist. There is already a 30mph limit there."