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Britannia Bridge Primary at Ince recognises that it is not fair, for various reasons, to expect all its youngsters to walk to and from class each day.

So instead it is encouraging those who come by car to park up a distance from the school and use Shanks’s pony for the rest of the route.

The aims are to cut back on the traffic log jams that frequently occur in the area at dropping off and picking up times, and also to get the children to exercise more.

Staff and pupils at Britannia Bridge Primary School, Ince, were joined by Daniel O'Connell, right, and Strider, the mascot for Living Streets - WOW walk to school project, as they launched a new Park and Stride scheme at the school to ease congestion outside the school and promote healthy living.

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On the launch day, pupils were joined by Daniel O’Connell from the Living Streets charity – founded almost 100 years ago as the Pedestrians’ Association and which encourages people to walk in order to keep fit and reduce road traffic.

Teacher and community leader Anthony Concannon said: “The school is working very hard to try to reduce congestion at the school gates.

"We hope that by doing this, the school gates will be a safer place, thus enabling more parents to walk their children to school.

Exterior of Britannia Bridge primary School

“We understand that not all children are able to walk the whole way to school, due to distance, parental work commitments or a variety of other reasons.

"One way in which we hope to help is by setting up a Park and Stride scheme.

"This is a simple initiative, where parents/carers are encouraged to park their car a five to 10-minute walk from school and then walk the rest of the way with their children or let them walk themselves.”

Wigan school introduces congestion-busting 'park and stride" scheme