It is a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation for many parents caught up in what is called the private car school run syndrome.

Several campaigns are running to reduce the number of such runs, for a wide variety of good reasons. For example, the evidence of the effect on congestion caused by school runs can be seen through the marked quietness on the roads during school holidays.

Road safety experts are wrestling with one specific issue at the moment. Throughout the country there's a shortage lollipop men and women. This very real crisis has led to crossings being unmanned.

One reason for the shortage is road rage, which is terrifying the life out of some crossing wardens. As a result, on roads where there is no patrol, children are facing danger on their journey to and from school. So parents are understandably taking their children to school by car.

It is at this stage that the plot thickens and sympathy for some parents vanishes. One of the greatest dangers schoolchildren are facing at the moment is bad driving outside their schools - by parents on the school run.

Police Sergeant Allan Gee, Keighley's community safety officer, has been put in the position of having to send out warning letters to the parents of all children at Haworth School after receiving complaints about irresponsible motorists.

The problems happen at both mornings and afternoons when children are dropped off or collected from school. Sgt Gee says this considerably increases the risk of harm, with children trying to cross the road between illegally-parked vehicles.

Motorists who break the law at the school's opening and closing times will be given £30 fixed penalty tickets.

Similar positive action has already been taken at another school. Those drivers who are fined have only themselves to blame.

There's no prize for guessing which drivers would be the first to bleat if a child was injured.