PRIMARY school children in Blackburn with Darwen are joining the fight against some of the smallest but perhaps most dangerous things lurking in their homes.

As part of National Food Safety week, environmental health officers are visiting schools across the borough to raise awareness of germs, the diseases they can cause and how easily they can be spread.

Every year it's estimated that as many as 5.5million people in the UK suffer from some kind of food related illness -- that's one in 10 people. But such illnesses can be easily prevented.

Pupils are being taught a wide range of simple but effective preventative measures, such as washing their hands before touching food, how to thoroughly clean utensils and how to avoid cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods. Blackburn with Darwen's director of regeneration, housing and neighbourhoods, Adam Scott said: "Food safety is particularly important at this time of year - especially at barbecues and parties, for example. By educating people from a young age about the simple do's and don'ts of food safety, we hope to prevent any unwelcome guests from making an appearance."