IT'S Walk to School Week and record numbers of parents and children are hitting the pavements across East Lancashire.

The Lancashire County Council-organised event will even see the cabinet members for education and young people and highways and transport, Alan Whittaker and Nora Ward, roll back the years. They will set off on foot from Chorley tomorrow for Eccleston County Primary School.

This is the sixth year that the county council has held the Walk Week. Participating schools are eligible to enter a Walk competition and could win the first prize of £1,000. There are also many runners-up prizes. To have a chance of winning, a school must achieve a sizeable shift away from car

use and organise unusual activities to mark the Week. Participating schools will receive bags of sweets or bookmarks for pupils.

A county council spokesman said the TravelWise Walk events aimed to encourage pupils to walk to school rather than go by car. Many schools suffer major traffic congestion and surveys have shown that the school run makes up nearly 20 per cent of all car journeys during the weekday morning peak. The spokesman added: "Safety is of prime importance at Walk to School events and we stress that younger pupils should be accompanied by an adult."