FORMER England cricket captain Ian Botham is encouraging children across Darlington to take part in Walk to School Week.

The sports star, who is famous for his sponsored walks, was asked to help encourage youngsters and parents to leave the car behind and walk to school by Darlington Borough Council's road safety team.

Mr Botham went to North Road Primary School to take part in an assembly, where pupils had dressed up as their favourite sporting heroes, with the winner getting the chance to walk home with him.

Walk to School Week is a national campaign held each year to encourage children and parents to walk all or part of the way to school.

In the weeks leading up to the event, checklists were sent to Darlington primary schools along with leaflets highlighting the health benefits of walking, reducing traffic congestion, as well as giving parents the chance to spend more time with their children.

To reinforce the message, each walker was also given an activity leaflet in the form of a diary to be completed by the child with information like the weather, what they saw on the way to school, who they walked with, what sounds they heard and how busy the roads were.

A feedback section will then be returned to the school giving details of how many days the child walked to school, how they normally travel and how they would like to travel to school in the future.

Children who walk to school all this week will receive a certificate and those walking part of the week will get a badge.

Coun Nick Wallis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "The Walk to School Week is an effective way to get the message across to parents, carers and children, reminding them that walking to school can be healthy, educational, safe and fun."