Record-breaking Scots cyclist Mark Beaumont joined school pupils to urge drivers to give children the space they need to cycle to school.

As children get ready to start taking their bikes to school over the summer months, Mr Beaumont visited pupils at St Mark's Primary School in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, to launch the 'Give Me Cycle Space' safety campaign.

It is designed to break down the barrier which prevents children from riding their bikes to school - their parents' fear of busy roads - by making motorists more aware of young cyclists.

Mr Beaumont, who broke the round-the-world record when he cycled 18,296 miles through 20 countries, said: "Campaigns like this are essential because you have to understand that a lot of road users aren't cyclists so they're just not aware of what they need to do on the road to act differently around a bicycle as opposed to a car.

"And especially children, because they are just learning to use their bikes and going through their cycling proficiency, so doing their first miles to and from school is absolutely perfect to get experience.

"We're trying to highlight the opportunity to stay healthy, get active and stay safe on the roads.

"I think it's massively important, I'm really passionate about this - I grew up in Scotland cycling from an early age and it's something that I've grown to love.

"I know how important it is to stay healthy and I know how much of a social activity it is as well.

"But you can only do that if the roads are safe and other road users give children plenty of space, it gives them more confidence and just looks after them.

"To get to school safely the kids need to have other road users giving them plenty of room on the roads, making sure they have confidence to cycle with their friends and families."

The six-week campaign, which is co-ordinated by Cycling Scotland, will take place in seven areas across Scotland - Glasgow, Inverclyde, Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Moray, Perth and Kinross, and East Renfrewshire. Schools in each of the areas will receive a visit from The Riderz, Scotland's stunt cycling team.

Mr Beaumont was joined by six pupils from primary six and seven, who had specially-made placards which said: "Give us at least 1.5 metres" and "We want to cycle to school".

Ian Aitken, chief executive of Cycling Scotland, said: "The Give Me Cycle Space campaign achieved incredible results last year, contributing to huge increases in the number of children cycling in the schools we targeted.

"In some areas we saw levels of cycling to school double, for example in Orkney the percentage of kids riding their bikes to school rocketed from 9% to 18%.

"I think the mixture of strong communication to drivers, supported by children getting their Bikeability Scotland training, really gives parents the confidence to let their kids start using their bikes to get to school."