Efforts to transform the school run into the school walk are being stepped up by an Oxfordshire County Council campaign.

The amount of car trips taken each day is rapidly overtaking the number of children walking to school in the county.

To coincide with National Walk to School Week starting on May 21, the county council has doubled the budget for Better Ways to School programme, which promotes safe routes to school, to £550,000.

This boost will mean the scheme can be extended from 12 to 31 schools.

An extra £200,000 is also being provided by the county council for schemes involving the 12 schools that are already part of the programme.

Better Ways to School is a partnership between the county council, which has invested in new crossings, pedestrian and cycle schemes and schools' efforts such as creating 'walking buses'.

Philippa Davison, county school travel plans officer, said: "Walking buses are safe, sustainable and healthy ways to travel to school and help to reduce dangerous congestion around schools."

Wendy Osland, a mother of two pupils at Wootton Primary School, near Abingdon, is one of the parents who volunteers to take the walking bus to school.

She said: "It is a great thing for the children.

"It is very popular and we get more and more joining all the time."