A LOCAL authority has been accused of hypocrisy over its campaign urging youngsters to use seat belts.

Durham County Council's 'belt-up' campaign aims to cut deaths among children travelling in cars through a series of hard-hitting radio commercials.

But the campaign has sparked a backlash among some school headteachers, who say that many pupils are still travelling in local authority transport without seat belts fitted.

It is understood that several heads have contacted Durham County Council to express their concerns.

One headteacher, who did not want to be named, said it was 'hypocritical' of the authority to spend money on the campaign, while continuing to use transport without seatbelts.

He received backing from Durham County Councillor Tony Moore, who said: "We should be setting the example to everyone else and making sure our children travel in vehicles with seat belts."

The law says that coaches and mini-buses being used by an operator to carry three or more children to and from school, or on an organised trip, must be fitted with seat belts.

However a vehicle designated as a bus is not legally required to have belts fitted.

A spokeswoman for Durham County Council said that 98 per cent of the contracts it awarded for school transport involved vehicles with seat belts.

She said: "Under the regulations coaches must be fitted with seat belts, but buses don't.

"When we select tenders we give priorities to coaches. We have very few contracts where vehicles don't have seat belts."