Schools are being encouraged to set up "walking buses" as a green and healthy alternative to the school car run.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) wants to persuade councils and schools to set up schemes to reduce pollution and congestion around school gates.

The initiative involves children joining a "human bus" at designated stops along fixed routes.

They are accompanied by at least two adults, with one acting as "driver" and one as "conductor".

FoE says walking buses are a safe and healthy way for pupils to get to school, and save parents' time as they take it in turns to supervise their children's journeys.

The group has set up its own walking bus scheme in Maidenhead.

'10 out of 10'

It is FoE's Maidenhead co-ordinator, Tanya Jowett, who has written the guide, launched on Monday.

Called Walking Bus: A Safe Way for Children to Walk to School, it tells people how to set up and operate their own schemes.

Nicholas, aged 10, used the Maidenhead scheme for nine months.

"I liked walking to school with all my friends and because I walked with lots of people it didn't seem to take long to get to school at all," he said.

"I was taught how to cross roads safely, and now I walk to school with two friends who used to be part of the walking bus.

"I give the walking bus 10 out of 10 because it helped me walk to school on my own."

More starting

The concept was started in 1998 at Wheatfields Junior School in St Albans, by Hertfordshire County Council.

Since then, about a dozen other walking bus schemes have sprung up around the local education authority, with more planned.

A new scheme at St Mary's Junior School and Kingshill Infant School in Ware was being launched on Monday.

And on Tuesday, schemes are due to begin at Applecroft School in Welwyn Garden City, and Oakwood JMI School in St Alban's.

The Oakwood scheme will have four different routes, on which children will wear colour-coded reflective jackets.

'It's a social thing'

Sue Ellis, senior road safety officer, education, said the council had produced its own booklet about setting up walking bus schemes, and had sold 500 or 600 copies.

She said: "The kids enjoy it, they get a lot from it. When they arrive at school they feel much better for the walk, and it's a social thing as much as anything - they get to see their friends.

"It reduces the number of people coming to school by car, there's the personal safety aspect of the children being escorted, it teaches them about road safety, and it's healthy."

FoE's Tanya Jowett said: "Parents are rightly worried about the safety of their kids on our crowded roads. But putting even more children into cars is not the answer.

"It's bad for the environment, bad for their health, and can threaten the safety of others."