MORE than 50 Rosneath Primary pupils have taken part in a walk to school initiative to help reduce traffic congestion and improve road safety.

The youngsters set off from St Modan’s Parish Church on Thursday morning supported by parents and teachers, with a banner illustrating their message reading: “Show you care, park elsewhere”.

The move was part of the transport theme of this year’s Eco Schools project looking at healthier alternatives to using the car when travelling to and from school.

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Acting head teacher Gregor Morrison said 76 per cent of the school’s children got involved in the ‘Big Walk 2 School’.

He said: “Nationally, air pollution is a big issue in terms of health and wellbeing and climate change.

“We are encouraging our parents and carers to park elsewhere to reduce air pollution around our school grounds.

“Clachan Road, which is the street our school in located on, often becomes blocked with selfish drivers parking directly across from the school gates.

“Our pupil Eco-Committee and Pupil Council are actively trying to encourage people to park elsewhere or walk to school instead, thus improving the health and wellbeing of both children and families.”

Last month, Glasgow City Council announced that seven primary schools are to trial car-free zones as part of an 18-month pilot scheme to improve road safety and lessen the harmful impact on the environment.

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Gregor added: “Road safety is also a big issue. Clachan Road often becomes very busy, with cars obstructing or blocking the views for our children when crossing the road.

“At the moment we only have one side of the road with yellow zig-zag lines and we are hoping to have both sides of the road painted to stop any vehicles stopping outside our school grounds.

“We want to improve safety and reduce the risks and dangers to our children.

“We had a much higher turnout than we were expecting.

“Clachan Road was also car-free at our time of arrival to school, which was safer for our children.

“We hope this may become a regular event in our school and are requesting any parent volunteers to help organise and run a similar initiative in the local community.”