Mayor of Douglas Councillor Michael Gelling recently joined police officers from Douglas Neighbourhood Policing Team to distribute reflector tags to 165 pupils at Fairfield School.

All Douglas primary school children have now received the safety devices, which were funded by Douglas Borough Council.

Douglas PCs Jo Williams, Mark Dimsdale and Mark Robinson demonstrated to pupils how best to attach the tag to their school bags for maximum effect.

Mayor of Douglas Councillor Gelling told Fairfield pupils, "I’ve come to help give out these reflector tags because it’s important you have one when you see how dark it’s getting in the mornings when you come to school and in the afternoons when you’re going home."

The Mayor also assisted police officers to distribute the tags to pupils at St Thomas’s School, the first school to receive the tags.

Fairfield headteacher Ian Walmsley commented, "The tags are great.  Anything that’s going to help children be more visible is a good idea, especially at this school in the middle of Douglas and with the amount of passing traffic we have.’

Sgt Ged Power stated, "This is an excellent gesture by the Douglas Council members, it promotes the important message of children being seen and getting home safely.

"Distributing the tags to the various Douglas primary schools has been great fun to do and I know that the tags, when attached to the school bags properly, will be there for years to come.

"The initiative ties in with our goal for everybody, not just young children, to think about being seen at night time, planning a safe journey and letting your loved ones know where you are."

Pictured: (pupils, l-r) Jason Kelch, Liam Foley, Kieron Dunn, Tara Gulliver and Faye Pendlebury; (back row, l-r) PC Mark Dimsdale, PC Mark Robinson, Mayor of Douglas Michael Gelling, Mayoress Shirley Wilson and PC Jo Williiams.