Three hundred and sixty five children helped get across a visual message about the number of lives that could be saved by a crusade to cut deaths on Oxfordshire's roads.

Pupils at John Mason School, in Abingdon - some classmates and friends of a teenager killed in a crash last year - marked out the number 365 on their sports field to show how many people it is hoped will be saved by an Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service campaign.

The 365 Alive initiative - backed by the Oxford Mail - aims to prevent an estimated 365 deaths in road accidents and fires over the next 10 years.

Young people and motorists will be targeted by firefighters using shock tactics and graphic images when the campaign is officially launched in October.

John Mason students and teachers are helping to highlight the campaign at the request of firefighter Bob Paterson, whose 13-year-old son Dale - a pupil at the school - died in a car crash in Italy last August.

Yesterday, Dale's friends and classmates, now in year nine, were among pupils who helped form the figure 365.

Using hard-hitting video clips, images and a personal account of the impact of his son's death, Mr Paterson, a watch manager at Oxford's Rewley Road fire station, is putting together a presentation, entitled Choices and Consequences, which he will take to schools and colleges across the county.

He said: "I couldn't think of a better school to launch it at than Dale's school. The children took their task very seriously and were very well behaved.

"What happened with Dale was a shock for everyone and I think they might have a better understanding now than many other young people about what the consequences can be of a car crash and why making the right choices is so important."

Dale, who lived in Abingdon and was known as Sparky, died when a car being driven by Richard Bianchini, from Cowley, Oxford, crashed into a wall. Bianchini, Dale's mother's boyfriend, was over the drink-driving alcohol limit and was given a suspended prison sentence in January.

John Mason School headteacher Paul Corrie said it was shocking to realise the number of people whose lives might be saved when the children took up their places for the photo session.

Mr Corrie said: "Seeing the number of students all lined up on the field, it really brought it home. It wasn't just a number any more it made it real."

In the past 10 years, 477 people died in road accidents and 3,235 were seriously injured in Oxfordshire. During the same period, 39 people died in fires and 304 were rescued.

Mr Paterson said: "The message has got to get across and the way to do that is educating people. The photographs of the 365 should be quite dramatic and, hopefully, people will think when they look at them."

Friends of Dale have created a memorial garden at John Mason School as a lasting tribute to him. A football tournament and fun day is being held in his memory in Abingdon in September and the first anniversary of his death will be marked on August 15.