MEASURES to improve the safety of children at a Hartlepool primary school are being hailed a success.

A vehicle count carried out in the area around Kingsley School has revealed a big drop in the numbers parking in Kingsley Avenue.

This follows the installation of speed humps to slow traffic and bollards to prevent cars parking on the pavement as part of Hartlepool Borough Council's Safer Routes to School initiative, and the completion of improvements to the nearby Rift House Recreation Ground car park.

Work to develop a School Travel Plan, aimed at easing congestion outside the school by reducing parents' dependence on their cars and encouraging alternative travel, has also been completed.

The school's work to improve safety has enabled it to obtain grant funding for a safe waiting area within the existing playground, which can be used by both children and their parents.

Secretary Margo Waites, who developed the school travel plan with teaching assistant Janet Allan, said: "Indiscriminate parking in Kingsley Avenue was a problem, and safety was a big worry.

"Since the introduction of the safety measures and the improvement of the recreation ground car park, we have had a lot of positive feedback from parents and staff. They say traffic using Kingsley Avenue is travelling much more slowly and most parents are parking sensibly in the car park."

A council survey earlier this year found the number of cars parking in Kingsley Avenue at peak times had fallen by 75 per cent following the completion of the safety works and the introduction of the school travel plan."