YOUNGSTERS, mums and dads heading to schools in Denby Dale have a new way of avoiding the village’s busy roads.

A muddy path between Leak Hall Lane and Leak Hall Crescent has been transformed into a safe route to school.

Volunteers, recruited through Gilthwaites School and coordinated by Rosy Ackroyd – whose children attend the school – turned out to construct the path at the end of last month.

The work force, coordinated by the Denby Dale Parish Countryside Project officer Andy Wickham, was boosted by volunteers from the Ten Villages Conservation Group.

Former ward councillor and Denby Dale parish councillor, John Cook, said: “It’s a dirt track and it was very slippy and a sludgy mess.

“This is just a short bit that needed hard surfacing but it creates a safe route off the main road and quite a busy side road.

“It links up to Surestart Children’s Centre and the infant school and from there there’s a footpath from the top of Leak Hall Lane and across Wither Woods to Gilthwaites Junior School.”

The project has been made possible by funding from Kirklees Council in co-operation with Denby Dale Parish Council.

Kirklees Rights of Way unit provided road planings for the new surface.