EDUCATION chiefs in York have moved to allay parents' fears about the safety of children travelling to school.

City of York Council's executive member for education, Coun Carol Runciman, said parents can be assured that everything is being done to ensure their children are safe in and around school.

Her comments came in light of two recent incidents near Archbishop Holgate's School - one on Monday when 20 bus passengers were hurt when the driver had to break hard to avoid a pedestrian, and another in September, when two cyclists shot out in front of a bus.

The council's school travel plan co-ordinator, Ann Sunderland, said the council was ahead of the crowd when it came to making sure children got to school safely.

Miss Sunderland said: "I am a parent myself and can understand why people would be concerned in light of recent events, but there is a lot that has been done and is being done to improve road safety in York.

"We offer one of the best pedestrian and cycle training programmes in the country - we are involved in training other authorities.

"And our team of 25 pedestrian trainers, who train the police and paramedics in road safety, go out to schools."

She said as well as going into the classroom to educate children, there were three main areas where the council worked hand in hand with schools on road safety.

Travel plans:

Twenty-eight schools in York are working on travel plans, and each school in York that writes a travel plan by March 31 can apply for a Government grant of £3,750, with an additional £5 per pupil. This equates to £5,000 for the average primary school and £10,000 for secondary schools.

Safety zones:

This is the area immediately around schools where parking restrictions and speed limits are in place. Seven schools in the city have recently had their school safety zones upgraded by extending 20mph zones and yellow lines and introducing traffic calming.

Safer routes to school:

Five schools, Archbishop Holgate's, Poppleton Road Primary, Lowfield, Oaklands and Joseph Rowntree have all been subject to a consultants' study, looking at the routes children can take to school and recommended safety measures that are needed.

A package of £70,000-worth of improvements is being put together at Archbishop Holgate's, including upgrading a pedestrian crossing and extending the 30mph zone.

Updated: 08:32 Wednesday, November 03, 2004