Stop, look, listen: you've won a prize for a road safety competition

Southall pupils were rewarded for their artistic flair at a series of prize-giving ceremonies at local schools.

Over 70 entries were received for a competition to create eye-catching artwork as part of a road safety awareness campaign. The banners were designed to draw particular attention to the dangers of stopping on the ZigZag lines next to pedestrian crossings.

The initiative is also aimed at encouraging the local community to consider alternative, more sustainable ways of travelling to school or work, such as walking or cycling. Through careful selection, six designs were chosen from pupils at St Anselm's Catholic Primary School, Hambrough Primary School and Blair Peach Primary School. The artwork has been used to create road safety banners for the schools.

The winners were presented with a fun safety pack each at individual prize-giving ceremonies where the banners were unveiled and hung prominently outside the schools. The initiative was supported by the London Borough of Ealing's road safety team and Berkeley West Thames, which is transforming a brownfield site to deliver a new neighbourhood for Southall and is currently under construction. When complete, Southall Waterside will provide new homes, entertainment and leisure facilities, including plans for a cinema, alongside new parks and green spaces.

Ruth Sykes, head teacher of St Anselm's Primary School, commented: 'It was great to be part of this important local campaign. A little healthy competition is never bad so we relished the opportunity to engage with other schools in the area. All of the artwork is so creative and colourful - it's great to see the winning designs up outside the school.'

Damian Leydon, operations director at Berkeley West Thames, said: 'Road safety and awareness is such an important topic for children to learn about so it's fantastic that so many pupils got involved - although it made the judging extremely hard!'

Nicky Batkin, Ealing Council's senior school travel advisor, said: 'We're delighted that so many schools took part and hope that drivers will take note of these banners in the future and heed their messages. Learning about road safety and sustainable travel is vitally important for students. As a council we promote active travel and have a strong belief in journeys made by foot, bike, scooter or public transport.'