A NEW initiative to help save children's lives on the road has been given the green light.

Blackburn with Darwen Council's Road Safety Team has been given £90,000 for a co-ordinator to run a child pedestrian training scheme in 11 schools.

The pilot scheme is the latest effort to cut the high number of children killed or seriously injured on the roads.

The funding -- from the Department of Transport -- should help the council meet its aim of reducing the number of children killed or seriously injured on the borough's roads from 36 a year in 2001 to nine by 2004.

The agreement, between the Blackburn with Darwen Council and the Government in April 2001, promised a £3million cash boost if the council met 13 targets by 2004. But latest police figures revealed nine accidents involving children so far in this financial year, which means the council is behind schedule to meet its target for this year of 15 casualties.

The scheme is aimed at primary school children aged between five and seven and uses a training programme known as Kerbcraft to teach children practical on-road skills.

They will learn all about road safety with practical examples while supervised by a trained instructor.

It is hoped that children will gain a feeling of road safety rather than just theory in a classroom.

Executive member for regeneration Coun Andy Kay said: "This a tremendous opportunity for the council to further develop its nationally-recognised service and reduce child accidents further by extending the work of the road safety team to other schools in the borough.

"By helping children gain road safety skills we hope they will have a longer and safer future."

The funding, delivered over three years, is in line with the Government's Road Safety Strategy 'Tomorrow's Roads, Safer for Everyone.'

This is the council's second grant and builds on a previous scheme which started at other schools in May 2002.

The 11 new schools have been chosen for their higher than average child pedestrian casualties.

Under the agreement, children have also received Be Safe Be Seen accessories such as reflective bands in a bid to make them more easily visible to motorists.

The new co-ordinator will also develop walking buses, where children in large groups walk to school together along a set, marshalled route.

A similar scheme has already been promoted by Lancashire County Council but it has not qualified for the extra cash.

In 2001 more than 110 children in the UK were killed or seriously injured on the roads and under Government targets this figure needs to be slashed to 64 by 2010.

Nora Ward, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "We actively encourage walking buses as they capture the imagination of the children. They are also a great safe alternative to the car for school runs."

l The schools included in this second phase of training are: St Barnabas and St Pauls, Oakenhurst Road; Sudell County, Sudell Road, Darwen; St Albans RC, Trinity Street; St Michael and St John, Swallow Drive, Wensley Fold, Manor Road, St Silas, Clematis Street; St Stephen's Infants, St Stephens Avenue; St Cuthberts, St Albans Drive; St Matthews, Witthers Street; St Thomas, Newton Street; and Holy Trinity, Bank Top.