The mother of a girl who was seriously injured in a seafront road crash has demanded the return of safety barriers to prevent further collisions.

Pauline Jordan, whose daughter Harriet was forced to sit her GCSEs from a hospital bed after she was hit by a car in Brighton's Madeira Drive in 2000, called for the chicane planters to be replaced as soon as possible.

The planters, which were installed in 2004 to force motorists to slow down to navigate around them, are believed to have been pushed to the side of the road during the Burning the Clocks winter solstice ceremony on December 21, when 20,000 people descended on the seafront to watch the fireworks.

But more than four weeks later, they remain out of commission.

Mrs Jordan, 49, who lives in Brighton, said she was shocked the barriers had not been returned to the road once the event was over.

She said: "People used to tear up and down the road at high speeds and use it as a race track.

"It took a long time for the council to put in safety barriers and there were some hideous accidents.

"My daughter's accident was caused by speeding and nothing more. If the barriers are not replaced, we will see more."

The barriers were absent last week when two cars collided in Madeira Drive and five people escaped with minor injuries.

Three men and a woman were taken to hospital with cuts and bruises while a fourth man was treated at the scene of the accident on January 18.

Delia Forester, Labour member for Queen's Park on Brighton and Hove City Council, demanded the barriers be returned to prevent "boy racers" from exceeding the 30 mph speed limit.

Coun Forester said: "Given that the reason they were put there is people were driving extremely fast along Madeira Drive, where there have been a couple of accidents and at least one fatality, the barriers should be put back.

"I'm not sure why they haven't been put back but I would like to see them replaced to prevent so-called boy racers causing a nuisance."

Richard Carabin, a machine driver for contractor Edburton Construction, which is working on the Peter Pan's playground renovations, said the removal of the three rows of planters had led to drivers increasing their speeds.

Cars often took detours down the road during rush hour to avoid the busy Palace Pier roundabout.

Mr Carabin said: "Now you see cars going up and down a lot faster. Some like overtaking at 60 or 70 mph down there. And it's not just young kids but middle-aged people too."

In 1997, Lynsey Richmond, 17, died in a traffic accident in Madeira Drive.

Her mother, Betty Gregory, spent years campaigning to make the road safer.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said the barriers would be returned to the road "in the next day or so".

The spokesman added: "The planters were initially moved aside over Christmas because they're frequently rearranged by vandals and no staff were available to put them back."