AN effort to resolve problems caused by the school run has been taken to the very top.

North Yorkshire's travel awareness officer Geoff Gardner was invited to a Downing Street think-tank, to discuss the issue.

The Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling, and Charles Clarke, Secretary of State for Education, were also at the meeting.

The school run causes congestion as parents all pick up or drop off their youngsters at the same time.

Mr Gardner, head of the county council's team of advisory teachers specialising in travel awareness, said: "We have fewer children walking to school in North Yorkshire than anywhere else in the region and the extra efforts we are taking to counteract this have obviously caught the attention of Whitehall.

"I used the opportunity to promote our idea of a five-minute walking zone around every school.

"We all have to drive sometimes, but almost everyone can walk the last five minutes of every journey."

"Best of all, with obesity and diabetes on the increase, five minutes spent walking with children could be adding five minutes to their life expectancy."