The Scots father of a three-year-old boy killed by a van driver on a controversial shared space road is to make a personal plea to Prime Minister Theresa May to ban the controversial 'free-for-all' schemes, saying those behind the projects have "blood on their hands".

So-called shared-space schemes have sprung up across the UK after local authorities adopted what campaigners feel is the counterintuitive idea of improving safety by removing the dividing lines between people and cars.

The idea, pioneered in the Netherlands, is that by putting buses, cars and lorries together with pedestrians, all parties are forced to co-operate and concentrate.

In July, 39-year-old Rebekah Le Gal pleaded guilty to killing three-year-old Clinton Pringle through careless driving in a section of ‘shared space’ road in which there are usually no traffic lights, signs, kerbs and road markings. She walked free from court after receiving a suspended jail sentence.

Glasgow Times:

Young Clinton Pringle from Moodiesburn, North Lanarkshire, was on a family holiday when he died after being struck by Le Gal's Volkswagen Transporter van during a holiday to St Helier, Jersey, in June 2016.

Clinton's father Michael, who has supported a campaign to stop a similar 'shared space' junction in the centre of Kirkintilloch, East Dumbartonshire where traffic lights have been removed, is now joining forces with other campaigners next month to hand over a petition to 10 Downing Street calling for the road schemes to be banned.

He said: "These shared-space areas can be confusing for pedestrians and drivers alike. When you blur the lines of distinction between pavement and road then you increase the probability of accidents and fatalities.

"Drivers need to be more vigilant when approaching these types of area but as our family has found out that isn't always the case. Clinton paid with his life and the people who plan and implement these types of spaces have his blood on their hands.

Glasgow Times:

"These shared-space areas make look nice on the eye but there is no substitute for proper pavements and controlled crossings. Believe me there is nothing nice about looking at your child fight for his life in a hospital intensive care unit."

Speaking of the Le Gal case, he said: "Despite acquitting her, the judge who presided over the trial of the driver who killed Clinton agreed that she should have been extra vigilant given that she was driving towards and through a shared-space area where vulnerable road users were present.

"He also pointed out that the area and the road layout was confusing to pedestrians who could think they were already inside the park."

Mr Pringle will be joined by, among other,campaigner Sandy Taylor (below), chairman of East Dunbartonshire Visually Impaired People's Forum, who has constantly pushed for the Kirkintilloch shared space junction to be scrapped and has been petitioning the Scottish Government for three years to halt such schemes being built.

Glasgow Times:

A Scottish seminar on the issue in April concluded that kerb and crossing should be retained in schemes and that Scotland should lead the way in re-writing the guidance to ensure access for all and safety was at the heart of planning policy.

In April, a group of influential MPs said the government should call a halt to all local shared space schemes pending “the urgent replacement” of national guidance to take into account disabled persons’ views and needs.

Meanwhile, nearly 8000 have support a campaign set up on behalf of young Clinton calling for legislative change to Jersey's driving laws that would see them equal to those found on the UK mainland.

Mr Pringle has said the family are also angry the case was heard under Jersey law, where two lay officials, called Jurats, make the decision rather than a jury.

Writing on the Change.org petition, Paul Newman said about the case: “The Pringle family, along with the States of Jersey Police, firmly believe that the driver was guilty of dangerous driving.

“There is a real belief that the outcome of the trial was a miscarriage of justice and we hope to get the case reviewed.

“There are currently no real deterrents to prevent drivers from using a mobile phone whilst driving. There are no penalty points, minimal fines, and as we have recently seen, no penalties for taking the lives of innocent children.

“The Pringle family are calling for a legislative change to Jersey driving laws that would at the very least equal those found on the UK mainland."