A mum-of-three was so worried about children's road safety she signed up to teach them cycling skills.

Rachel Sandford, 36, spent five weeks training as a cycling instructor to give youngsters in Bletchingdon, near Kidlington, the opportunity to learn road safety.

And newly-qualified Mrs Sandford has now led her first cycling proficiency class at Bletchingdon Primary School. The medical secretary said she was so worried about youngsters being hurt or even killed in accidents on the village's roads she had to do something about it.

She said: "I became involved in cycle training because I knew the cycle instructor at Kirtlington Primary School. He told me how this was worthwhile and rewarding, and suggested I try it too. I have received great satisfaction from learning the skills to be able to provide road safety training for the children. It's good for the kids because they need to be road aware and a little bit safer on their bikes.

"I have enjoyed the training and they are a great bunch of kids. It has been good to see them all achieve something. Because I live in the village, I have seen the kids out on the road with their bikes and they are using what they have learned. You see some kids on the road and they don't look where they are going."

The village has not had any volunteer cycling instructors for months, meaning children have not had the opportunity to learn road safety skills. Mrs Sandford was trained by Oxfordshire County Council and has now joined the road safety team's army of 700 volunteers who dish out advice across around the county.

The mum, whose children Joseph, nine, Ellen, seven, and William, four, all attend Bletchingdon School, added the skills they were learning could save lives. Ian Hudspeth, county council cabinet member for road safety, added: "We take road safety very seriously. We want to do everything in our power to drive down the number of accidents on our roads.

"Giving young people the knowledge to guide them in potentially dangerous situations is an important component of what we do. Our volunteers play a critical role in delivering that advice at schools up and down the county. Rachel is our latest recruit and we are always on the lookout for more."

To find out about becoming a cycle training tutor call 01844 355963.