BARRY motorists are getting a closer than usual view of the artistic talents of a group of primary school pupils.

Erected as part of the introduction of a 20mph speed limit outside Ysgol Sant Curig, at Buttrills Road, special road traffic signs feature the work of year six pupils Catrin Smith and Brogan Nugent and Year Five Sarah Lee.

Current regulations allow part of the signs to contain a non-standard message or symbol, and the pupils' winning designs were chosen following a competition organised by the Vale of Glamorgan Council's road safety team.

Vale Cabinet Member (Planning and Transportation) Cllr Tony Williams, presented the pupils with framed prints of their work, said: "The idea is to give the school and its community ownership of the zone.

"This latest scheme will make a significant contribution to the safety of Sant Curig pupils, as well as the local community."

This is the third such zone - the others are at Albert School, Penarth, and Llanilltud Fawr primary/comprehensive schools - introduced during the past couple of years by the council, with funds from the Welsh Assembly Government.

Vale senior road safety officer Mike Dacey said local authorities were now legally entitled to set 20mph speed limits on individual roads within "zones" in residential areas, town centres, outside schools and on roads used by cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders.

"Residents generally support the zones, and feel they are successful in both reducing speeds and making their communities safer and more pleasant places to live in," he added.

A study of 250 such zones in the UK has found that average speeds fell by 9 mph, and annual total collisions, collisions involving children and collisions involving cyclists have fallen by 60 percent, 67 percent and 29 percent, respectively.