EFFORTS to ensure the health and safety of schoolchildren in Hartlepool have been boosted.

Karen Wilkinson has taken up her post as school travel plan coordinator with Hartlepool Borough Council, which will see her working closely with pupils, teachers, parents, the police and health officials.

She aims to develop travel plans to reduce parents' dependence on cars when taking their children to school and encourage alternative forms of travel.

Her job also involves working with pupils on a range of educational projects and complementing the council's Safer Routes to School (SRTS) initiative.

An extra £100,000 from the council's local transport plan is being put into SRTS covering Fens Primary School, St Bega's and St Helen's primary schools on the Headland, and Jesmond Road and Brougham primary schools.

Two existing SRTS cover King Oswy Drive and Seaton Lane.