Three district schools have been given £15,000 to offer pupils greener, safer and healthier ways of travelling between home and their classrooms.

Cullingworth Primary, Crossflatts Primary in Bingley and

Riddlesden St Mary's CoE Primary have been awarded about £5,000 each under a new Government initiative.

The funding, announced by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling and Education Secretary Charles Clarke yesterday, will be used to develop safe walking and cycling routes to schools.

The cash is part of £10 million being spent by local education authorities and green transport charity Sustrans as part of the Links To Schools programme, which will extend the 8,000-mile National Cycle Network.

More than 230 schools across England are benefiting from the scheme, which will create new links from cycle paths to schools.

The aim is to reduce the congestion caused by hundreds of parents doing the "school run" in the morning and evening.

Local education authorities are being encouraged to develop innovative solutions to school transport problems, reducing traffic congestion and cutting pollution.

These could include:

l safe cycle routes to schools with secure storage for bicycles

l "walking buses" in which pupils are collected from an agreed location, and then walk together to school escorted by volunteers

l "park & stride" schemes in which parents drop children off at an agreed location to be escorted into school

l high-quality school buses with features CCTV and well-trained drivers plus extra buses for pupils attending after school activities

Crossflatts Primary School received a grant of more than £5,000 to build a cycle path to allow staff and pupils to cycle to school.

The path runs along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and connects up to the Sustrans National Cycle Network.

The school also has a "cycling champion" in teacher Isobel Roberts who urges children to follow her example by riding their bike to school.

Headteacher Hilary Craven said: "The path was built in spring and on a sunny day we have had 30 or 40 children cycling to school and parents cycling to school with their children as well.

"The path is not just for cycling people can walk to school, and we are looking at having at organising walking and cycling buses."

The path was created because staff and governors were concerned at children getting to school during congested rush hour traffic at the main entrance on Morton Lane.

The path will be officially opened in November after the half-term holidays.