Police working with Oxfordshire County Council are launching a campaign to promote safety at school crossing patrols.

The campaign will be launched in Witney on Monday at Tower Hill School, where a crossing patrol supervisor recently suffered a drive-through' incident when a driver failed to stop for children to cross the road.

Mandy Rigault, county senior road safety officer, will take assembly alongside council cabinet members and PC Mark Pilling.

Since September Thames Valley Police has prosecuted four drivers, and is investigating a further two, who have or are believed to have committed this offence at Oxfordshire crossing patrols.

Those who fail to comply with the stop sign risk being prosecuted and receiving an endorsement of three penalty points on their driving licence and a fine of up to £1000. If the driving is considered dangerous, the driver could face up to 14 years in prison.

A system has recently been introduced to encourage crossing patrols to report offences, and recent prosecutions have brought average penalties of £200 and three penalty points.

Liz Cawley, headteacher of Tower Hill, said: "At Tower Hill School we were all shocked and distressed when our crossing supervisor suffered her drive-through. She is out there in all weathers helping our children and parents to get to school safely, and we can't imagine what it would be like if she gave up the job because of these selfish, inconsiderate drivers. We hope this assembly sends a clear message to all drivers that the stop sign means STOP!"

OCC cabinet member for Transport, Ian Hudspeth said: "We are delighted that OCC staff are receiving such active support from Thames Valley Police in pursuing these drivers. Fortunately the number of such incidents in Oxfordshire is small, but every one is potentially life-threatening and every one is too many. Drivers must realise that if they ignore the Stop sign then they must expect to take the consequences."