HUNDREDS of children in Kirklees and Calderdale went on the march to promote a safer driving campaign.

Youngsters from Hillside Primary School in Newsome were among those who joined a giant walking bus.

The event was part of a national campaign called GO 20 organised by Huddersfield road safety charity Brake .

The aim is to encourage drivers to cut their speed to 20mph around schools, homes and shops.

More than 100,000 children across the UK marched simultaneously.

At Newsome more than 80 set off with a special escort from police community support officers Morgan Cockcroft and Paul Simpkins.

The school’s learning mentor Deborah Heywood, said the school had joined the annual event every year since 2009.

She added: “Over the years the traffic problems around school have increased tremendously and it’s only a matter of time before an accident happens.

“By taking part again we hope we can highlight the dangers and encourage more people to walk to school rather than using the car.”

Hillside also operates its own road patrol scheme in a morning and afternoon to discourage parents parking in the staff car park and on the roundabout outside the school.

Children in the Pre-Prep Department at Huddersfield Grammar registered for the Giant Walking Bus.

They walked from the school with banners.

A survey by Brake found that if children’s routes to school were safer then more would walk or go on their bikes.

Brake asked 900 children about road safety and 73% said more would walk if roads were safer, 67% said they wanted more paths, cycle paths and crossings and 31% admitted to being scared of traffic in their area.

Across Britain almost as many children are driven to school as walk.

Brake says that very school day in the UK, 23 children are run over and hurt when walking or cycling to or from school.

Of those 23 children, four are killed or seriously injured.

Some 713 children are killed or seriously injured walking or cycling to or from school every year.

Julie Townsend, Brake’s deputy chief executive, said: “Many parents are in a difficult situation when it comes to letting their kids walk or cycle, often forced to weigh up the benefits of their kids being active and getting out and about with the risk of their child being knocked down and hurt.

“We need to make it easier for them by making roads safer for children and people of all ages, to help kids have the fun, active childhood they deserve and a proven way to do this is to reduce traffic speeds.

“We’re appealing to drivers to listen to the thousands of kids marching and take the simple step of slowing down to 20mph or less around homes, schools and shops.

“It’s a case of putting kids before getting there a few minutes faster.”

The charity wants the Government and local authorities to introduce more 20mph zones.