JUNIOR ‘safety officers’ will be joined by real police officers as they attempt to clamp down on dangerous parking outside a school in Hakin.

Pupils from Hakin Infants School will be handing out special ‘parking tickets’ to drivers parked on zig-zag lines and pavements on Picton Road, in a bid to make entering and leaving the school safer for children and parents.

Suggestions for drivers awarded a ticket include parking further away, or walking the journey, which would also help keep mums and dads ‘fit and healthy’.

Helping them get the message across will be local Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) Tess Williams and Danny Nash.

“The main thing is we want to raise awareness,” said PCSO Williams.

“When people are parked on the bend, it means people can’t see oncoming traffic, and makes it difficult for parents and children to walk on the pavement.

“It’s an issue parents are very passionate about, and it seems to be a bigger problem here than at other sites, especially in winter.”

Suggestions for drivers include parking further away, or walking the journey, which would also help keep mums and dads ‘fit and healthy’.

And to make sure the children are both seen and heard while they carry out their duties, the junior officers have been given high-visibility jackets, and five-year-old Isabelle Duffield has designed a big safety banner which now hangs on the school gates.

Headteacher Nick Dyer said it was great to see the county council, the police and the school working together to alleviate the problem.

“It’s always been difficult because the bend on the road by our Picton Road site is so narrow, but unfortunately the solutions some drivers have tried to use are a hazard to the children,” he said.

“So far, it’s been really encouraging to see drivers responding to the children’s efforts.

“After all, how can anyone ignore the children when they say ‘Better be safe than sorry - please can you join us in this project so none of us will get hurt’?

“We’re looking forward to doing something similar after half term on the Waterloo Road site, where the parking on the double yellow lines, and cars turning in the cul-de-sac present a very real danger.”