A TEN-year-old girl suffered “significant head injuries” after she was in collision with a car outside her Ipswich home.

Simon Tomlinson

A TEN-year-old girl suffered “significant head injuries” after she was in collision with a car outside her Ipswich home.

Joanne Cowey is recovering today after walking out from behind an ice cream van in Burns Road.

An eye-witness said she was thrown into the air and “cut her head open”.

As police forensics experts examined the scene, neighbours said they have been campaigning for road safety measures in the street amid fears someone would get hurt.

Officers were called to reports that the girl had been in collision with an Audi A4 at around 4pm yesterday.

Eye-witness Shannon Tooke, 14, said she may have also broken her leg.

Miss Tooke, of Burns Road, said: “She ran into the street and was hit. She was thrown as high as the ice cream van. She cut her head open.”

The girl was taken to Ipswich Hospital by paramedics, where she was last night described as being in a stable condition. Her parents are thought to have also gone with her.

Speaking at the scene, Pc Andy Fossey, of Suffolk police, said: “A ten-year-old suffered significant head injuries after being in collision with a car.

“It is now a case of speaking to witnesses and gathering all the information we can. The driver of the ice cream van is a key witness for us.”

Meanwhile, residents told how they had gathered more than 30 signatures on a petition last year calling for the road to be made safer.

They said many neighbours had lost animals in road accidents and claimed it was only a matter of time before someone was seriously hurt or injured.

Steve Orris, 35, said: “We have been trying to get speed humps in for some time. Drivers use this road as a cut-through.

“It is a 30mph speed limit and we would assume this driver was doing well within the limit, but that limit needs to be reduced.”

The incident took place close to where ten-year-old Joanne Dockett was killed after she was in collision with a car in Byron Road last August.

Does Burns Road need road safety measures? Write to Your Letters, The Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk