Past and present pupils at Thornton Grammar School are calling for a 400m former footpath to be reopened to cut 1km off their journey to school.

Students at the Leaventhorpe Lane school and members of alumni group the Old Thorntonians urged Bradford Council to reinstate the route from Clayton, which was axed after a building project in the mid-1970s.

Year eight pupils Asad Mohammed and Kanwal Yasin, both 13, handed over a 750-signature petition in support of the project to the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Coun Dale Smith, at City Hall yesterday.

David Lloyd, behaviour support manager at the school, said: “It’s a road safety issue for us. If this footpath is opened, children will be able to walk to school from Clayton without hitting any roads whatsoever.

“At the moment, the children have to navigate busy main roads and, while we haven’t had any incidents yet, it’s an accident waiting to happen.

“We’re a sports college and always encourage pupils to walk to school. If this path was reopened, it would make a massive difference and the walk to school much safer.”

John Baruch, of the Old Thorntonians, added: “We hope the Council will back the reopening of this footpath.

“We used to walk to school along it, but it was lost in the mid-1970s after building extensions to the school.

“We want to reopen the footpath and encourage more school students to walk across the fields from Clayton with the attendant health and study benefits.

“It’s only a small path, but it cuts around half a kilometre off their journey each way.”

Asad Mohammed, a member of the school council, said be believed more pupils would walk to school if the path was reopened. He said: “Everyone thinks it’s a really good idea.”

Coun Smith accepted the petition on behalf of Bradford Council and said it would be presented to a planning panel.