An incredible 240,000 school run car journeys were taken off the county’s roads during the last academic year thanks to KM Walk to School partnership.

The charity’s achievements were celebrated at an awards night which saw a number of Canterbury area schemes win trophies.

What began as a fledgling operation in the year 2000, with just a handful of walking buses, now encompasses thousands of children and volunteers and has gained national accolades, including the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2005.

The scheme has taken 100,000 cars off the road, and walking bug and walk on Wednesday schemes have removed an additional 140,000 car journeys.

KM Walk to School chairman Simon Dolby said: “This has been an amazing year for the charity. We have seen an explosion of interest in our walk to school work.”

Mr Dolby also praised the walking bug scheme, which now has 162 classes involved, up 50 per cent from last year.

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KM Group senior editor Bob Bounds said that the scheme that started the whole success story – the walking bus – had far exceeded its expected growth in numbers to 100 buses.

“There are now 136 walking buses operating in the county, with at least 30 more in the pipeline,” he said.

“To put that into context, there are now 1,000 volunteers taking a turn each week to escort a walking bus, and those buses are transporting 3,000 children to school each week.”

Award winners for the Canterbury were:

Best Walk to School Partnership, Blean primary; Top Walking Bus Co-ordinator, Jane Graham, of Bridge and Patrixbourne primary; Top Walking Bus, Joy Lane Primary, Whitstable; Top Walk On Wednesday and Walking Bug School, Swalecliffe primary.

Guests at the awards night, held at the Corn Exchange, Rochester, were entertained by kmfm DJ Louis Hurst and comedy troupe The Noise Next Door.