STEPS are being taken to encourage parents to leave their cars at home and walk to school with their children.
It is hoped that almost 10,000 Middlesbrough schoolchildren will take part in their year's Walk to School Week, next week, with more than 30 schools participating in the project.
Middlesbrough Council emphasised the benefits of walking to school, which included easy exercise, reducing pollution, helping the environment, saving money, giving parents and children valuable time together as well as passing on road safety skills.
The council has also said that walking to school can actually reduce crime in neighbourhoods on the route to school.
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