MORE than 2,000 schoolchildren chanted and waved banners as they took to the streets in a march against dangerous drivers this morning.

Pupils from Mill Hill, Hendon, Cricklewood, Edgware and North Finchley were among tens of thousands of youngsters across the UK who took part in the Kids Say Slow Down campaign.

Deansbrook Junior School and Deansbrook Infants School, both in Hale Drive, Mill Hill, were two of the schools taking part. Teacher Sarah Glackin, of the Junior School walked with 360 pupils.

She said: “Drivers often use Hale Drive as a cut-through and it causes congestion in the mornings and afternoons when the children are trying to cross the roads, making it very dangerous.

“We want to encourage children and their parents to walk to school and Deansbrook promotes a park-and-ride scheme where parents park a few hundred metres away from the school and walk the rest of the way, whatever the weather.

Headteacher, Simon Putman, added: “If we don’t highlight the need for safety and park-and-ride schemes, how long is it before a child will be seriously hurt?”

The event was also a chance for UK children to break a world record for the largest “walking bus”, aiming to smash the current record of 119,697 and raise £35,000 for road safety charity Brake, which organised the Kids Say Slow Down march.

The charity, which is campaigning for 20mph speed limits in built-up areas, says 54 children were killed and 1,930 seriously injured after being knocked down in 2009.

Julie Townsend, Brake’s campaigns director, said: “We support families whose children have been killed or maimed on roads, so we know the terrible devastation these tragedies cause.

“You never know when a child might make a mistake and run out. Your slower driving could save their life. At 20mph or lower, you stand a good chance of stopping in time if a child runs out ahead.”

Schools across Barnet insist they are determined to reduce the number of parents driving their children to and from school.

Diana Gottardo, who sets out the school travel plan for Rosh Pinah Primary School, in Edgware, said: “We have a lot of traffic congestion around the school, but we’re trying to encourage parents to park at least seven minutes away and walk to school as well as encourage children to walk or cycle.”