CAMPAIGNERS have been educating children about speeding and dangerous driving outside their school.

The 'rat run' outside Alfred Sutton School has frustrated parents and teachers for many months, with several near-misses and injuries caused by motorists mounting the pavement.

Problems have continued to blight Crescent Road during peak hours, with more than 2,500 children needing to get to one of the three schools in the nearby area.

A group of Year 5 pupils were visited by Thames Valley Police on Wednesday to deter irresponsible motorists with speed guns.

Alice de Croos, office manager at Alfred Sutton, said: "Some of our parents have formed a parent action group to tackle bad parking and dangerous driving around the school.

"Crescent Road is a real rat run and there was a boy knocked off his bike further down the road.

"There was a mum who was hit by a car and she really badly hurt her arm. At some point something serious is going to happen."

With the support of ward councillors, the school managed to introduce some measures to make drivers think twice.

Parents have also been encouraged to walk their children to school to cut down the volume of traffic, with some parents taking to standing outside the school to police the situation.

Councillor Rob White added: "In the last year a car has turned over, a student was involved in an accident with a car and I have spoken to two people who have been clipped by cars while walking along Crescent Road on the school run.

"This is clearly unacceptable. Head teachers, the police and parents have all raised road safety concerns with me about the volume of traffic mixing with school pupils.

"Green councillors lobbied for passing places, bollards and permit parking to help with the situation, but more is clearly needed."

Councillor Tony Page, deputy leader of the council, said the council's powers to tackle poor driving were limited, although Crescent Road is now part of the town's first-ever red route.