FUNDING has been secured to teach 1,000 more children to ride a bike safely.

Durham County Council has been awarded £20,000 by the Department for Transport to run Bikeability sessions for primary school children in year three.

There are three stages and levels one and two are normally offered to children in years five and six but the extra cash means around 1,000 children will be able to start at the younger age.

The first school in the county to benefit has been St Joseph’s RC Primary in Gilesgate, Durham City.

Headteacher Angela Boyle said: “We are delighted to be the first primary school in County Durham to have the level one course delivered to our year three and some year four pupils.

“The children have had great fun during the sessions and have been given high quality training by excellent instructors.”

Some other primary schools have signed up and more will be contacted about the training.

Level one involves braking, riding in a straight line, riding round obstacles and using gears, while level two focuses on road cycling. Level three, for secondary school pupils, takes place on busier roads with complex junctions.

More than 20,000 children have completed Bikeability training since the council started running the courses in 2009.

Paul Watson, the council’s road safety manager, said: “We are delighted to have secured the funding to enable an extra 1,000 pupils to benefit from this vital road safety training.

“Our aim is for every primary school child to have the opportunity to receive the training.”