Express & Star

'Cars are big, we are small!' School pupils say 'no' to illegal parking with eye-catching campaign

Pupils at a primary school in Sandwell have designed eye-catching signs in the hopes of cracking down on illegal parking.

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Youngsters at Our Lady and St Hubert's Catholic Primary School in Oldbury created the posters, which will be displayed on lampposts nearby to encourage motorists to park responsibly.

They have further demonstrated their artistic skills by designing a banner featuring a poignant message which will be displayed on the school railings.

The Moat Road school is located on a red route which means no stopping is allowed, however, it is said that some drivers are choosing to pull over and park illegally.

Pupils Blake, Oliver, Hannah, Esme and Khushi pictured with the signs

Sandwell Council said civil enforcement officers and CCTV enforcement vehicles patrol the road on a "regular basis" and vehicles observed parking wrongly are issued with a Penalty Charge Notice.

Councillor Danny Millard, cabinet member for environment and highways at the local authority, said: “This is another great example of our road safety team working together with a local school and school children to raise awareness of responsible parking, to help keep our children safe.

"Well done to all the children for their hard work creating these banners and signs."

In a bid to educate pupils on the issue, Sandwell Council's Road Safety Team has paid a visit to the school and held dedicated assemblies.

Our Lady and St. Hubert's principal, Olga O’Beirne, added: “We have recently run an awareness-raising safe parking campaign. In assemblies we launched a banner making competition to all our children asking drivers to respect the red route and park legally and responsibly.

“We have encouraged our children and their families to walk to school whenever possible to support this initiative to keep the area around school as safe as possible. By actively participating in the campaign, our pupils have been empowered to make a difference to their local community.”

The pupils who created the chosen designs were rewarded for their efforts with a certificate at a special assembly.