ALMOST 13,000 children across York are to be given special, reflective stickers in a new council road safety campaign.

The campaign was launched at St Wilfrid's RC Primary School as children returned to school after the half-term holidays.

Every nursery and primary pupil in York will receive a reflective sticker to make them more visible to car traffic as the winter nights draw in. The foot-shaped stickers are meant to be placed on the children's school bags to improve their visibility when travelling to and from school.

The campaign is part of a range of measures and initiatives to improve the safety of York school children.

The council is currently rolling out a programme of school safety zones in primary schools across the city, safe routes at three secondary schools and cyclist and pedestrian training at every York school.

Councillor Tracey Simpson-Laing, City of York Council's executive member for transport, said: "These stickers are a fun, yet very important, way of promoting and educating children in the importance of being seen on their journey to and from school, particularly during the winter months.

"But being seen is only half of the issue and it is the responsibility of car users to drive at speeds at which they can see children and respond to situations without causing injury.

"We need to remember that 30 mph in the urban area is a maximum and motorists should be even more cautious during the winter months."

Colm Flannagan, St Wilfrid's RC Primary School head teacher, added: "The safety of our children is a top priority therefore we welcome any measures to support this.

"The stickers have been very well received by the children and have proven both fun and educative for them."

Updated: 09:27 Tuesday, November 05, 2002