SMILEY Sid, an electronic device which smiles when drivers are travelling within the speed limit, has been fitted outside a primary school.

The road safety speed indication device produces a smiley face if a driver is within the speed limit and a sad face if the driver is breaking the speed limit.

It made the news last September when it was dismantled and removed from its perch on a lamppost in Fabian Road, Eston, Middlesbrough.

It is thought that the culprits mistakenly thought they had been caught speeding on camera and made off with the evidence.

But the council has re-invested in a new sign and its first port of call is outside New Marske Primary School, in Birkdale Road, New Marske, where ten-year-old pupil Charlotte Mett won a competition to design the front cover of a leaflet about speeding.

Mike Hall, the council's road safety manager, said: "Smiley Sid is a friendly reminder - it doesn't record number plates and doesn't issue fixed penalty notices.

"We are also promoting it as a road safety promotional tool, aimed at training children about the positive benefits of slower road speeds."

After Birkdale Road, the sign will move to a series of locations where residents and councillors have complained about excessive speed.

A full schedule of locations, where the sign will stay for two weeks - one week on either side of the road - is available on the council's website at www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk