CHILDREN celebrated International Walk to School Week by having a continental breakfast with their mayor.

Around 180 children at Lockwood Primary School, Boosbeck,enjoyed fruit juice, croissants, cereals, muffins, pancakes and toast with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's Mayor, Madge Moses.

Lockwood pupils, seven- year-olds Ben Peak and Kimberley Ealand, who both walk to school every day, have featured on hundreds of posters, promoting the council's International Walk To School Week.

The school, which plans to open its own breakfast and after-school club in the New Year, is also ready to start work on a travel plan.

Headteacher Julie Green explained: "We're looking at safer journeys to school on a morning and trying to get more children walking.

"It's a difficult route for a lot of children, who live in the outlying villages - so we're looking at other methods of travel as well as the bus."

The council's road safety manager Mike Hall said: "We're trying to encourage as many children as possible to walk to school - a good walk increases their concentration in school, it's good for the environment and it's good for their road safety skills."

In Hartlepool, Walk to School 2 Weeks began on Monday and will run until Friday, October 15.

The first week coincides with the national Walk to School Week, but the second is exclusive to Hartlepool.

Paul Watson, Hartlepool Borough Council's road safety officer, said: "We want to see if walking by pupils can be sustained over a longer period and that is why we have decided to follow up national Walk to School Week with our own local walking week.

"If parents travel to school by car, we would ask them to consider either leaving their vehicles at home or, if they must drive, parking some distance away from school and walking part of the way."

The campaign includes International Walk to School Day today when players from Hartlepool United FC will join local children walking to school.

The second week is sponsored by town radio station Hartlepool FM. DJs will go out on the school run to walk with parents and children.