IT WAS lift-off for young Michele Schmidt when a special visitor arrived at her school.

He picked her up with the greatest of ease – no surprise, really, as the Green Cross Code man was actor Dave Prowse, a former heavy weightlifting champion.

He was 6ft 6in tall and weighed 19 stone – just right for his role as the symbol of the children’s road safety campaign and the villainous Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.

This picture was taken at Harebell School, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, where Michele was a pupil.

On the same day in 1981, he also visited St Andrew’s School in Headington and St Joseph’s School in Headley Way.

Pupils looked on in amusement as Michele was hoisted almost to the ceiling – and showing no hint of fear, she gave a smile and a wave to all her classmates below.

In his guise as the Green Cross Code man, the actor talked to the children and gave them tips on how to stay safe on the roads.

The Green Cross Code is a short step-by-step procedure designed to enable pedestrians to cross streets safely.

While the Code has undergone several changes over the years, the basic advice – Stop, Look, Listen, Think or Stop Look Listen Live – has remained virtually the same.

The 21st century version reads:

• THINK! Find the safest place to cross, then stop

• STOP! Stand on the pavement near the kerb

• USE YOUR EYES AND EARS! Look all around for traffic, and listen

• WAIT UNTIL IT’S SAFE TO CROSS! If traffic is coming, let it pass

• LOOK AND LISTEN! When it’s safe, walk straight across the road

• ARRIVE ALIVE! Keep looking and listening Dave Prowse took on the role of the costumed super-hero in the 1970s to help children learn the code and to promote general road safety.

He played the character in schools all over the country as well as in a number of public information films sponsored by the Central Office of Information for the Department of the Environment.

The short, light-hearted films were shown on TV regularly between 1975 and 1990.

When the actor appeared in Oxford in 1981, he had been playing the character for about five years.

In that time, figures showed that the number of children injured nationally in road accidents had dropped by a third.