Pupils from Tunbridge Wells were delighted to become the first winners of a new award celebrating schools that are top for green travel.

Hawkhurst Primary School is the first school to receive the Mini Babybel Best Walking Bus award for the Tunbridge Wells district.

Chief executive of the KM Charity Team Simon Dolby selected Hawkhurst as the winner for its safe and friendly service.

Mr Dolby said: "There are fantastic walking buses in the district, all taking great care of the children, but Hawkhurst managed to stand out from the rest. I’m grateful to Babybel for enabling us to reward the walking bus team for doing such a great job.”

The school’s walking bus coordinator Mrs Dawn Pogson was surprised and thrilled to receive the award.

Mrs Pogson said: “I am really proud of the children. After ten years of walking they still want to be a part of it all. All we adults are volunteers who would be walking anyway, and often it cheers up our day as much as the children’s.”

She added: “Keeping everything fresh and fun and easy is a big part of running these buses, and for that we owe a lot of thanks to the KM Charity Team, who often come up with some wild ideas to raise our profile within the school and village. I’d like to say thank you to them as well as to Babybel for this award.”

Mrs Pogson also commended the school’s head mistress Mrs Hatcher for encouraging new families to join the scheme and making introductions.

Parents wanting their children to take part in the Hawkhurst Walking Bus can talk to the team as the walking bus arrives at the school gates. Permission forms, high visibility tabards and timetables are all available at the school.

As well as Mini Babybel the KM Walking Bus, which is a KCC-led initiative, is supported by Countrystyle Recycling, Specsavers, Three R’s Teacher Recruitment, Golding Homes and Eurostar.

To find out more about the walking bus, visit www.kmwalktoschool.co.uk. Organisations wanting to find out how they can sponsor a KM Walking Bus should call Mr Dolby on 07989 164 752.