THEY may only be in primary school, but these young citizens are campaigning to bring about change for the benefit of the community.

And this week, pupils at St James CE Primary School in Daisy Hill presented councillors with a 300-plus strong petition calling for a pedestrian crossing outside the school.

The children sprung into action after parents raised concerns about the busy road outside school and because of the new nursery which has opened in school.

Charlotte Senior, aged nine, explained : "There's loads of cars parking and driving up at high speed.

"We've interviewed parents and they agree with us as well, so we do hope we can get the pedestrian crossing.

"Some of the children are late because of traffic and they wait near the roundabout, and people get stuck there with buses and ice cream vans.

"99 per cent of the time there's at least one person late."

She was one of the group of pupils presenting the petition to councillors in Bolton Town Hall's grand council chamber.

And on Tuesday, the children will be delivering a presentation to the Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Elaine Sherrington and Cllr Anna-Marie Watters.

This will include a short film, views of the community and why a crossing is so desperately needed outside the school.

Headteacher CatherineWatkin said children were campaigning to get the crossing installed before their is a serious accident.

She said: "There have been near misses on the road. Even when the children were filming with the teacher they saw pedestrians start to cross and then having to jump back on the pavement.

"The children collected 350 signatures from staff members, parents and family members after parents raised concerns about the road with the staff.

"We got the children involved and they have used their literacy, IT and other skills they have learned in this campaign.

"They have really enjoyed it as it has given them a purpose to work towards.

"Some have siblings in the nursery so they want to do it to make the road safer for everyone."