ARE your children street-wise? Operation Street-wise, a safety initiative designed to teach children how to keep safe in their environment, is running this month in Blackpool.

The initiative, aimed at Year 6 children in schools throughout the town, uses a replica town called Safety Scene, complete with road system, pavements and road crossings, to teach the youngsters how to recognise danger and how to cope in an emergency.

Station Officer Kevin Jeynes from Blackpool fire safety department, said that the scheme was extremely effective: "When you look at statistics wherever it has been run, you will see a decrease in the number of casualties in children in that age group.

"They are at that transition stage between being children and young adults and are trying to develop that degree of independence. They are usually the ones involved in accidents."

Station Officer Jeynes said that this year was the first time the scheme had run in Blackpool. A range of different agencies, including the Fire and Rescue Service, police, Blackpool Borough Council road safety, Blackpool Transport services and North West Lancashire Health Authorities, are involved in the programme. United Utilities were also involved, dealing with water safety issues.

Operation Street-wise will run at Hanger 1 at Blackpool Zoo -- which provides enough space to house the Safety Scene model town -- until March 15.