Young traffic activists have launched a campaign to stop motorists speeding past their school.

Pupils in Harden have taken matters into their own hands to crack down on drivers breaking the limit outside school.

The children at Harden Primary School have told Bradford Council the results of their surveys to back up fears of traffic on Long Lane.

Head teacher Jean Robinson said they wanted to challenge a Council survey which showed the road linking Bingley and Keighley was not busy enough to warrant traffic calming.

She said: "Crossing roads is a problem. It's been an issue that's really struck home.

"The older children would like to walk to school alone, but parents are concerned about them crossing the road. There is a zebra crossing outside, but we're not sure that's enough because cars approach it at speed."

During half an hour last Friday, pupils and teachers recorded traffic flow and noted 481 vehicles and 110 people who crossed the road, including three children alone. Using the internet the children looked at traffic-calming measures and decided a 20mph limit outside school could be most effective.

In a presentation to Harden Neighbourhood Forum, pupils said they thought a pelican crossing or speed humps would keep drivers in check.

Mrs Robinson said: "For 70 per cent of the day it's not that busy, but at those crucial times when the children are arriving and less so when they are leaving it is a lot busier."

PC Claire Linus, of Bingley Neighbourhood Policing Team, supported the pupils' concerns. She told the forum: "Crossing outside school is a problem and the markings are atrocious. Bradford Council highways have listed remarking as a job and they say it will definitely be done."

Colleague PCSO Alan Burnett, who works in Harden and Wilsden, pledged to continue patrolling the crossing as often as possible.

PCSO Burnett urged people to help form a Speedwatch team in which villagers join PCSOs behind a speed camera to catch speeding motorists.

It has been popular in Wilsden and Cullingworth, where residents have caught scores of motorists and seen warning letters automatically sent to the culprits. Three warning letters triggers a fine.

A Bradford Council spokesman said: "We have been monitoring the situation and have commissioned a further survey of the site. This will help us determine whether a pedestrian facility is needed on this road. A decision about funding would be taken at a future meeting of the Shipley Area Committee."