CHILDREN in Cumnor took to the streets to urge parents to park safely on the school run.

Pupils at Cumnor Primary School have spent a term investigating the issue after a survey revealed one in four children had experienced a “near miss” on the road outside the school gates.

And they found that it was parents parking on pavements and zig-zag lines that was making leaving the Oxford Road school unsafe.

To hammer their message home they made banners and staged a protest at school closing time. The children also wrote a special plea that was sent home to all families.

William Ayres, nine, told parents: “Don’t park here because it’s dangerous for us and people don’t look out for children crossing the road.”

Rory Campbell-Smith, ten, said: “We have made posters and we have been meeting with staff and trying to stop people parking here.

“It is difficult to cross.”

The school’s school travel and road safety group worked with police and Oxfordshire County Council’s road safety team on the project.

Headteacher Heather Broom said there was no excuse for parking near the gates as The Vine pub, a three-minute walk from the school, allowed parents to use its car park. She added: “We have not had a serious accident but 25 per cent of children said they had had a near miss.

“We get a lot of parents saying ‘Good, you’re trying to do something about it’.

“But there are reluctant ones who need to change.

“We do understand there are time pressures but if it is a matter of leaving five minutes earlier then that’s the way to do it.”

Mrs Broom said the issue had been raised in school newsletters but the message was more powerful if it came direct from pupils.

Parent Teresa Haynes said bad parking did make the road dangerous to cross.

She added: “You cannot see anything coming because of parked cars. Parents should listen to what the children are saying.”

Police community support officer Lisa Prim, who has worked with children on the project, said her team made patrols and had ticketed parents.

She added: “We have a leaflet on safe parking and we take down registration details.

“If someone is blocking the path they will get a ticket but we try to go down the education route.”