International recruit for Stockton team

Stockton Borough Council’s road safety team recently welcomed a new international star - in the shape of South American Arnie the Armadillo.

Arnie is seven feet tall and bright yellow and has been brought on board to help promote road safety across the Borough.

Several years ago road safety officer Mike Edwards brought a real Armadillo shell to work to store his pens in. The shell dates back to Victorian times when they were used as sewing baskets. Team member Peter Fleming commented that it looked a bit like a cycle helmet - and Arnie was born!

A graphic designer was commissioned to come up with some cartoon drawings and since then the image has been used on various promotional items including pens, pencils, mugs and t-shirts.

"Armadillos are protected by a hard shell and we want people to think of a cycle helmet as their hard shell while out cycling," Mike Edwards explains. "In their native South America the biggest killer of armadillos is traffic - a bit like hedgehogs in the UK - so we use Arnie to teach youngsters about being safe while near the roads."

"An armadillo is an unusual animal for us to choose - we get a lot of questions and it gets people thinking. Once they’ve seen Arnie they certainly don’t forget him. He raises a smile wherever he goes and is fairly cheap to keep as he only needs a couple of bags of ants a week!"