SCHOOL children are taking a stand on road safety in Bolton.

Two students from St Brendan's Primary School, in Brookfold Lane, Harwood Lee, are teaching their fellow pupils about road safety as newly appointed road ambassadors.

Bolton Council's road ambassador scheme sees youngsters from schools across the town receive training in how to keep safe on the roads and pass on their learning to their peers.

Young pupils Elizabeth McGuinness and Sophie McGrath-May are working to make sure that St Brendan's students are keeping safe on the roads — even hoping to challenge heavy goods vehicles passing the school to get to the nearby quarry.

The road ambassadors are finding new ways to get the message of road safety across, doing everything from designing high visibility jackets, posters and cycle helmets, to writing plays for school assemblies, giving individual classes on safety and speaking to parents on parents evening.

Year 2 teacher Catherine Pearson is leading the scheme at St Brendan's "We started the scheme in January so it’s a fairly recent addition.

"Elizabeth and Sophie are really enjoying it. It's a very important issue in Bolton in particular, but the scheme also helps raise the children's self help skills. We're aiming to continue the programme, it will be even more important as the nights get darker. We're very proud of the work they are doing."

Stuart Haslam, Bolton Council's cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "The scheme has now been active for 18 months and there are thirty schools on board with another 10 lined up ready to start in the new school year.

"The work the two ambassadors for St Brendan’s, Sophie and Elizabeth, have undertaken has been tremendous in spreading the road safety message.

"They are naturally very mindful of the potentially dangerous location of their school which is situated on a narrow lane with narrow pavements which carries a lot of heavy goods vehicles up to the Harwood Quarry.

"They intend to start a campaign with the quarry to encourage the heavy goods vehicles not to pass their school during times when the children are arriving and leaving at the school, as ward councillor I fully support them."