PUPILS and teachers are asking motorists to slow down and drive carefully near their village school.

Kirk Merrington Primary School is the first in County Durham to use a portable speed board to flash up a warning to motorists if they break the 30mph speed limit.

The device, known as Smiley Sid (Speed Indication Display), measures and displays the speed of a passing car and signals a happy or sad face depending on the reading.

Children have used the equipment, on loan from Durham County Council, to help headteacher Helen Williams draw up a school travel plan.

Other initiatives, which are being funded with central and local government grants, will include removal of overhanging greenery and new school and road signs, road markings and promotion of walking to school.

Mrs Williams said: "We want drivers to be aware of us, to be careful and to stick to the 30mph speed limit throughout the village.

"We have got a lot of support from parents and the county council, now we want motorists to take notice for the safety of our pupils.

"I'd also like more pupils to use a path that leads to the back of the school to avoid the road at the front where we have potential dangers."

Noreen Youell, school travel plan adviser at Durham County Council, said encouraging safer driving and more walking to school were key to safety.