Borough's youngsters are little belters during child safety week

Rochdale Council has launched its “I’m a Little Belter” campaign to encourage parents to make sure their child’s car seat is fitted correctly during national child safety week.

The casualty reduction team, who are all qualified car seat fitters, visited sure start and children’s centres across the borough after statistics revealed that 80 per cent of child car seats are not fitted correctly.

The team regularly visit nurseries and children’s centres to spread important road safety messages and conduct road safety walks for youngsters.

There were 392 casualties across the borough as a result of car crashes between January and December 2013, the third lowest figure in Greater Manchester.

Parents who couldn’t get to one of these sessions and who are not sure whether they’ve fitted their child's car seat correctly can contact the council on 01706 924605 or email road.safety@rochdale.gov.uk for advice.

Councillor Jacqui Beswick, Cabinet Member for Highways at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “It’s encouraging that we have one of the lowest rates of road casualties in Greater Manchester but we need to stay vigilant. A badly fitted car seat can be the difference between life and death, so l’d encourage parents to get in touch with the road safety team and find out more.”