NORMALLY the adults rule the roost in a car, but finally the youngsters are having their say.

Stickers designed by Brighton children to promote a ban on smoking in cars when they are present are being printed by the council to appear on bumpers around town.

They were created for a contest run by the city council, fire service and NHS and will be distributed in their thousands to pupils who took part.

Pupils at Bevendean Primary School, City Academy Whitehawk and St Martin’s Church of England Primary competed in the ‘design a bumper sticker’ contest to raise awareness about the new law designed to protect children from passive smoke. The best designs are being printed.

Special assemblies were held in each school about the new law and the fire service visited each school with a fire engine.

A spokesman for Bevendean Primary School, in Heath Hill Avenue, said the visit was “exciting” for the children.

He added: “All winners were given a copy of their printed design and they all 'climbed aboard' the fire engine for a look around.

“Parents were invited to the presentation assembly and you will soon be able to see the children's stickers around the city”.

Since October this year, it has been illegal to smoke in a car when someone under the age of 18 is present.

Experts say second-hand smoke can put children at risk of serious conditions such as meningitis, cancer, bronchitis and pneumonia, and make asthma worse.

Many of the children’s designs featured drawings of cars with messages about the new law, at least one with images of a green-faced child saying ‘Stop!’ while the driver chugs on a cigarette.

Another features pictures of children snuggled up in bed or in a cot with the question, ‘Why should we choke on your smoke?’.

Winning designs were chosen from each year group that entered at each of the schools, and every pupil in each school will have a sticker to take home - around 1,000 in total.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council’s public health team said: “The ban on smoking in cars with children present means ‘one less space to smoke, one more reason to give up smoking.”