In Lancashire real live hedgehogs met schoolchildren to help publicise the 'Be Safe, Be Seen' message.

Hedgehogs help to get the message across as the clocks go back

Road safety teams around the country deployed the THINK! hedgehogs to make youngsters aware of the need to ‘Be Safe, Be Seen’.

Milton Keynes Council’s Road Safety Team is dishing out hundreds of reflective hedgehogs that shine in the dark to help get the message across to children and their parents. The hedgehogs feature as fluorescent and reflective stickers in hundreds of postcards being sent to libraries throughout Milton Keynes from half term week onwards. In addition to carrying free peel-off stickers, the postcards stress the vital difference between fluorescent and reflective materials.

The hedgehogs feature as 'shining stars' in a new national television campaign to show children the importance of wearing fluorescent clothes and accessories during the day and reflective clothes when it is dark. The advert uses humour to get the messages across, showing a hedgehog trying to put on lots of fluorescent and reflective gear while dancing around and getting caught up in it.

"These hedgehog stickers could be a lifesaver as they help children to be seen, so we want as many children as possible to pick up their free sticker postcard from the libraries and stick them to their school bag or bike," said David Frost, road safety team leader in Milton Keynes.

In Lancashire real live hedgehogs from the Fylde Hedgehog Rescue Trust met youngsters from Manor Beach County Primary School, Thornton Cleveleys to help publicise this important message. The Lancashire Road Safety Group's annual campaign encourages children to wear fluorescent clothing and stickers when they are out and about in the dark months.

Last year between October and March one child died on Lancashire’s roads, 31 were seriously injured and 80 were slightly injured.