A POSTER campaign will aim to 'guilt trip' parents who put the lives of Lyme Regis schoolchildren at risk.

A giant banner designed by pupils at St Michael's Primary is set to be displayed outside the school to warn parents of the dangers of illegal parking.

Lyme Regis Police have challenged the pupils to come up with designs for the banner to help drive the message home to their parents.

Officers hope they will listen to their children's pleas and stop parking on double yellow and zig zag lines in King's Way.

West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin visited St Michael's in March when they asked him for a safe crossing, better signs, and a reduced speed limit. Lyme Regis officers visited the school last week to give children safety advice.

PCSO Luke White said: “We thought at the same time, with the parking issues going on up there, it would be an ideal opportunity to get a little competition going.

“It's an idea I had seen used in other parts of the country - it's basically guilt tripping parents with messages from their children.

“Clearly the message isn't getting through and there aren't enough Dorset County Council enforcement officers to be at every school at the end of the school day.

“We would like to think the parents would listen to their children and not park outside the school.

“Primary school children are a bit shorter than the height of a car so as they are walking across the road they are putting themselves at greater risk of being hit by a car coming past.

“Unfortunately it's the parents who are putting their own children's lives and the rest of the children in danger by parking there.”

St Michael's assistant headteacher Nick Kiddle said: "We are really impressed with how enthusiastic the children were when they were told about the competition and hope that their banner designs will encourage drivers to park appropriately outside our school.”

A year 6 pupils said the police visit helped them to learn about road safety, adding: “The competition is a great way to encourage our parents not to park on the double yellow lines and increase safety at the front of school.”

The county council's traffic manager Matthew Piles said they welcome the poster initiative, adding: “Dorset County Council and Dorset Police always work together on issues such as these.”

PCSO White has secured some funding from Dorset Police to pay for the 8ft by 3ft banner, which could include a single design or several designs.

PCSO White believes the speeding problem could be tackled if the town council's speed indicator device (SID) was used more in the area.

“I haven't seen the town council's SID up there, which would be able to give us data of where the speeding problems - if there is a speeding problem - is,” he said.

Lyme Regis Town Council's operations manager Elliott Herbert said: “We would love to promote road safety in our town, but unfortunately for us, to site the SID it needs to fulfil the requirements set by Dorset Road Safety team and after a recent assessment of King's Way, they say there is no requirement for it to be there.”

Mr Letwin said he welcomes the banner competition, adding: “I have been in touch with the county council about it (the road) and I'm waiting to hear the result of their investigations.”

Designs for the banner should preferably be done on a computer and emailed to lymeregissnt@dorset.pnn.police.uk by the end of June.