POLICE have been popping up across North-East communities to teach children about seatbelts and road safety.

Officers from the Northumbria force took to local supermarkets and leisure centres to promote their work and speak to young children about wearing a seatbelt and how it keeps you safe.

Officers also took along a specially designed bridge which, when a child walked under, depending on their height, showed whether they needed a booster seat or a seatbelt.

As part of the campaign officers Police Community Support Officer Peter Johnson, who built the bridge himself in his spare time, talked about the initiative, how it started and the benefits.

He said: “The idea for the bridge came from Clive Broadhurst who works as a Road Safety Officer with West Midlands Police. Clive retired as a Constable but came back as a Special Constable to promote road safety.

“We worked together and he kindly shared his initiative which we were able to develop and brand with our force logo. It’s a great example of partnership work and proved a great success in our force area.”

As well as raising awareness on the importance of wearing a seatbelt officers also issued advice to parents about the importance of correctly fitting child seats.

Sergeant Glen Robson said: “I can’t stress how important it is to wear a seatbelt. It can be the difference between life and death if someone is involved in a collision.”