After a successful 12-month trial, the pupil-led school street in St Martin's has become a permanent arrangement.

School Street schemes are commonly used in other parts of the world and involve a road outside a school only permitting walking and cycling at drop-off and pick-up times.

This initiative means that La Route des Coutures will continue to be closed to traffic on weekdays during term-time from:

• 8.30am-9am
• 2.45pm-3.15pm

Emergency vehicles, those accessing properties on the road and those who are cycling are still able to use the road during these times.

Clare Giles, St Martin's Primary School Headteacher, said:

"As a school we have promoted active travel for many years but our children raised concerns about the safety risks they had encountered during pick-up and drop-off times. Having seen this through from an initial idea to a permanent change, it's wonderful for pupils to see that they can make a positive change in their community now and for generations to come.

"Most importantly, our pupils and their parents or carers now feel safer travelling to and from school. I would like to thank the school community and parishioners for their support with this initiative."

Paul James, Road Safety Officer, said:

"Improving safety for all road users, particularly vulnerable road users, is one of our top priorities and one of the objectives of our On-Island Integrated Transport Strategy. We're happy to listen to ideas and work with the community to make further improvements.

"With any changes to our roads, it's important to check that new measures will work well, so it's been helpful to see this school street in action over this trial period, but it's good to now be able to move forward with this permanent positive change for the benefit of the local community."