LEES AND Cross Roads children have come up with a novel way to travel the world despite the coronavirus lockdown.

They are clocking up thousands of miles by walking, running and riding bikes around their neighbourhoods.

The miles are transferred to a map which allows the pupils of Lees Primary School to see how far they have travelled on a 'school trip'.

Staff member Emma Corrigan is carrying out the navigation for the Lees Virtual Lockdown Journey 2020 on the school's Facebook page.

She said: "The parents have been sending pictures of the children and families walking, running and bike riding.

"They tell us how many miles they travelled, multiply it by the amount of people as everyone counts, then I keep a track as we travel to each destination.

"We started out from our school and headed to London at the start of May. Then we went to Paris, France, then onto Bern in Switzerland, then Salzburg in Austria.

"We kept going onto Hungary then North Macedonia, then Greece. We are currently over the Mediterranean Sea heading towards Egypt in North Africa. So far we have travelled just over 2,500 miles!"

"It’s been a great way to come together as a school while we are all at home. The pictures sent in have been lovely, of children and families getting out and about in our beautiful surroundings where we all live.

"Our Facebook had become very popular during this lockdown with links and challenges, and a great way to keep in touch with our families and children."