National Walk to School Week went by in a flurry of footsteps and fun last week.

Pupils and parents from schools all over Kingston, Richmond and Elmbridge were involved.

Kingston Council, ably aided by road safety mascot Debra the Zebra, distributed promotional materials such as banners, stickers and calendar magnets to get the road safety, health and environmental message across.

Debra's chosen slogan this year is Don't use the car if it's not that far' and part of the promotion was to even encourage parents who travel some distance to park further away that usual and walk the remainder of the way.

Kingston Council has an excellent record of getting people out on foot there are 10 walking buses in the borough, which also holds the world record for the largest walking bus with more than 1,100 people taking part in one last year.

A scheme entitled WoW, short for Walk on Wednesdays or Walk Once a Week, was created by the Government to engender enthusiasm in children for walking.

The idea was piloted in Richmond and five other London boroughs last year and has proved such a success it has been rolled out nationally this year.

National Walk to School co-ordinator Jo Pike said: "Research tells us that the number of pupils walking to school increases by approximately 33 per cent during national walk to school weeks.

"WoW, our new brand, aims to maintain at least some of this increase throughout the entire school year.

"We really hope that local authorities and schools alike see the benefit of regular promotion of walking for school journeys."

The Department for Transport released a survey recently to identify what 1,000 parents and grandparents thought of walking to school.

The results showed that 60 per cent think walking to school is a good opportunity to talk to their children, 73 per cent think walking to school is less stressful than driving in the morning rush-hour and 68 per cent find it harder to have a proper conversation with their children while driving.

drankin@london.newsquest.co.uk