SCHOOL run mums are getting the VIP treatment at a Suffolk primary school with a team of dedicated ushers on hand to help unload youngsters in the morning.

SCHOOL run mums are getting the VIP treatment at a Suffolk primary school with a team of dedicated ushers on hand to help unload youngsters in the morning.

To help ease traffic chaos, Guildhall Feoffment Primary School, in Bridewell Lane, Bury St Edmunds, has two helpers guiding cars outside the school gates during rush hour.

Rather than risking a parking ticket, parents pull up briefly and each child is individually helped from the car and guided across the road.

Edmund Reynolds, four, was one of those benefiting from the new arrangement. His mother, Everley, said: “It's a sensible idea that works well both in terms of reducing congestion and keeping children safe.”

The scheme is believed to be the only one of its kind in East Anglia and it has helped ease conflict between parents at the 260-pupil school and traffic wardens patrolling the nearby roads.

Although parents are given a 15-minute waiting amnesty in the afternoons while collecting children, they are still penalised during the morning when congestion is at its worst.

Hayley Gould, mother of five-year-old pupil Maebel, said of the wardens: “Sometimes they're around even before the kids have got out of the car. The helpers are doing a fantastic job.”

Trevor Fellingham, site manager at the school for the last eight years, is on duty every morning during term time with another member of staff, kitted out in high visibility jackets and steel toe boots provided by the school.

“The wardens seem to come in waves every six months and slap tickets on people. They actually don't mind this system because it keeps the traffic moving,” he said.

Susan Herriott, headteacher at the primary for the last seven years, said: “We do try and promote walking and cycling but quite a few children travel in from beyond our catchment area.

“It's very convenient for working parents who have jobs in the town.”