A Bexleyheath woman has been left perpetually anxious after her cat was run over by a hit-and-run driver.

Deborah Hodge, 43, of Normanhurst Avenue, has launched a petition to change the layout of the road she lives on so that her daughters don’t end up its next victims. 

With cars racing round a blind corner, the mum-of-four is determined to have speed cameras installed.

News Shopper:
10-year-old Dexter was killed by a driver who didn't stop 

Speaking to News Shopper she said: “I can hear the cars whizz round the corner.

“I am terrified it will hit my children or my neighbour’s children.

“I can’t explain how fast they go round here.

“We do not want to live in an area where my children could get run down.

“I don’t know why this particular road is so bad.

“I want to live in this house for ever but I do not want to constantly worry about my girls rushing out the house.”

Dexter the cat was killed on July 8.

News Shopper:
Deborah and her family want speed cameras added to the road to prevent worse situations from arising 

A neighbour informed Mrs Hodge of the feline’s demise.

In the last three years the council confirmed that one person had been injured on Normanhurst Avenue but that other locations have been given a greater priority for the “limited budgets” available to the council.

The family, who raised the 10-year-old cat from birth, is now on a mission to gather signatures demanding cameras be installed at the junction of Swanley Road and Normanhurst Avenue.

News Shopper:
Bexley Council has no plans to alter the road layout, it confirmed

Mrs Hodge said: “I am in shock, it is cowardly.

“The fact is [the driver] was speeding and did not stop.

“Someone needs to do something.

“I want the perpetrator to come in my house and apologise - if they do that it is all fine, ‘I was in shock and I drove off’.

“It could have been one of my girls.

“I can’t get my head round that.”

At present, the council has confirmed that they have no plans to alter the road layout and have instead insisted that speed limits are the Met Police’s responsibility - although an installation of road bumps and a humped zebra crossing has been carried out previously.

A Bexley Council spokeswoman said: “We are sorry to hear of this incident.

“Normanhurst Avenue, although a residential road, is one of several roads providing access to a larger network of residential roads and supporting facilities.

“The council has not received any requests for traffic measures since 2011 and there are no plans to provide additional traffic calming features in this road.

“Enforcement of speed limits is the sole responsibility of the Metropolitan Police Service and any issues involving speeding traffic should be referred to them for their attention.”

To find out more about the petition click here