PRIMARY school pupils from across Tendring have been put through their paces as part of an event to teach them how to stay safe and well.

Youngsters were briefed on the potential dangers of knives, alcohol, railway crossings, traffic, the sea and a whole range of other issues in the annual Crucial Crew event.

Staged at Dovercourt Caravan Park in Low Road, the week-long event gave valuable advice on how to deal with situations the children may be faced with in the near future.

There was guidance from Tendring Council’s emergency planning team along with a scenario put together by UK Power Network and ACE Stop Smoking.

The whole aim of the exercise was help the 10 and 11 year olds get ready for the step up to secondary school and how to cope with peer pressure when they make the move.

Lynda McWilliams, the council's cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “Crucial Crew gets across a number of very important messages to these young people but in a fun and interesting way.

“Hopefully what they have learnt will stick with them and help them to deal with a number of tricky situations that are bound to come their way over the coming years.”

The event was organised by Tendring Council’s community safety team with support from organisations including Essex Police, Essex County Fire and Rescue, RNLI, British Red Cross, Only Cowards Carry, Teen Talk and Essex County Council’s Road Safety team.