PARENTS are being urged to have safety checks carried out on child car seats.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has set up a week of free safety inspections and refitting if necessary, after national surveys revealed that more that 80 per cent of child seats are fitted incorrectly.

Supermarkets in east Cleveland are assisting the move by allowing the council's trading standards section and road safety unit space in their car parks to carry out the checks.

Councillor David Walsh, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: "Surveys have shown that many child seats are fitted incorrectly. As we come into the summer we come to a period where many families will be taking their children on holiday - holidays that often involved a lot of long distance high-speed driving.

"I think it is essential that all parents should check the safety of their child car seats and should try to pop round to one of our car seat drop-in surgeries, where the seats can be checked and refitted on the spot."

He added: "At the end of the day we all want to see safety on the roads, especially for the very young, and these surgeries will be one way of ensuring that."

The checks are being carried out at Safeway in West Dyke Road, Redcar on Monday, June 17; the Co-op in Marske High Street, on Tuesday, June 18; Kwik Save in Eston High Street, on Wednesday, June 19; Safeway in Westgate, Guisborough, on Thursday, June 20; Asda, South Bank, on Friday, June 21; and Somerfield, Saltburn, on Saturday, June 22.

The safety checks will be carried out at the venues between 10.30am and 1.30pm