DRIVERS are being encouraged to take their foot off the gas and watch their speed outside Malvern Hills schools under a scheme being piloted by Worcestershire chiefs.

Worcestershire County Council aims to reduce traffic speeds at all schools in the county in order to provide a safer environment for road users by installing School Safety Zones.

The zones are intended to make the areas around schools safer by the use of new signage, which includes an advisory 20mph speed limit. The first zone has been installed at St Mary's Church in Longdon, near Upton-upon-Severn, and the scheme is now set to be rolled out to 10 schools in the Malvern Hills and Bromsgrove areas.

The signs draw attention of the driver to the presence of schoolchildren and the need to slow down and they are only operational when children are arriving and leaving at school. Their effectiveness will be assessed before a decision is made on whether to install them at other schools across the county.

If motorists do not conform to the speed limit, mandatory 20mph speed limits could be introduced 24-hours-a-day.

Powick councillor Coun Tom Wells said: "This is a very exciting project which will hopefully improve the safety for both parents and students around the times they are going to or leaving school.

"The council has the reduction of accidents, particularly those involving children, as a priority.

"I hope these signs will be effective in making motorists think, and slow down to the advised speed limit around schools."