A GIANT footprint is being used to symbolise Leg-It! Day UK next week - encouraging people to use their legs to get to work or school.

Boyes, in Northallerton, has joined forces with North Yorkshire County Council to support the event on Thursday, June 12, which invites people to travel under their own steam.

Staff fromthe store and the council will be on hand to promote Leg-It! Day in the hope that more people will walk or cycle when visiting the shops or meeting friends.

Geoff Gardner, the council's travel awareness officer, said: "The serious side to all this is that heart disease rates would drop by five to ten per cent if a third of all short car journeys were made by bike.

"Exposure to pollutants inside a car can be three times as high as that of pedestrians or cyclists outside."

Boyes stores throughout the county, including Scarborough and Stokesley, will be supporting the event.

"We are delighted to be endorsing such an initiative, which has the potential to make our staff and everyone else healthier," said personnel manager Margaret Middlebrook.