Fahd, a pupil at Parkinson Lane Primary School, Halifax, features in the seatbelt safety comic books, which have been given to almost 16,000 Calderdale schoolchildren, during roadshows at 73 primary schools.

He's also featured on child safety car seat height charts dotted around the district.

His mission is to encourage his classmates and others to remember to belt up and make sure they have the right child seats for their age and heights.

The campaign went into schools at the beginning of the new school year in September.

Kate Marsh, road safety officer, said: "We wanted to get schoolchildren involved to get them in the habit of wearing their seatbelts at an early age."

Clive Aylott, also from the road safety team, said: "We also got to hear some rather startling and worrying stories while talking to the children.

"One little girl told us about being put in the boot when there were too many people in the car. Another told us they had to hide in the footwell because there wasn't enough seats in the car for all the family.

"Hopefully, all the children we spoke to will take the important messages home and pass them on to their parents."

Older school pupils, at Ryburn Valley High, produced a DVD called "How to save a life" to spread the word to teenagers - one of the most difficult audiences to reach but also one of the most vulnerable, in terms of seatbelt use. The DVD was launched in February and more than 8,500 senior school pupils have watched it so far.