A BRAKE is to be put on motorists speeding past a Teesside school.

Currently, drivers are supposed to drive no more than 30mph on the approach to Clavering Primary School, Hartlepool.

But surveys have recorded some traffic travelling at much higher speeds through the area.

Now, in a bid to improve road safety and protect pupils, a 20mph is to be introduced outside the school.

Three sets of speed cushions are to be installed and areas of red road surfacing introduced at either end of a 200 metre-long zone fronting the school, in addition to 20mph speed limit signs, to make drivers aware of the introduction of the 20mph limit.

A 20mph limit has been introduced outside Hartlepool's Rift House Primary School, and the local council plans to pilot others following an investigation by its Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Forum.

Hartlepool Borough Council's North Neighbourhood Consultative Forum has agreed to fund the £9,500 cost of the Clavering Primary School safety project.

Headteacher Tony Metcalfe said: "I am delighted that these improvements are being proposed. We have spent a lot of time developing a school travel plan, one of the key aims of which is to improve safety in and around the school, and the 20mph scheme fits in perfectly with this.''

Work is to begin next month, and it is hoped that the new speed limit will be introduced by the end of May.

Councillor Rob Cook, chairman of the North Neighbourhood Consultative Forum, said: "This scheme is a key part of the forum's on-going commitment to improve road safety and protect residents, particularly our children.

"Speed surveys have shown that some vehicles tend to travel at high speeds on several roads in the Hart ward area, including Clavering Road outside the school.

"Hopefully, the 20mph zone will help to address these problems.

"I will be pressing for similar improvements outside other schools in the forum area."