The dangers of playing on building sites have been hammered home to children in Bromsgrove before the new PFI scheme gets under way.

Nearly 200 pupils from Meadows and Sidemoor First Schools were invited to Avoncroft Museum during National Construction Week to be warned of the safety risks. "This is always a popular event and we have had to turn down requests from some schools in the five years it has been running," said project organiser Phil Eves.

"We have taken pupils from Meadows and Sidemoor because of the PFI building work scheduled near their schools. We thought it was important they should learn of the risks."

He said some of the activities were aimed at discouraging children from playing on or near building sites. Health and safety experts were involved in drawing up the programme to deter youngsters from using the building sites as an adventure playground.

Official figures show six children have died and 524 were injured in accidents on building sites in the UK in the last five years.

At Avoncroft, the children wore hard hats and took part in a safety poster campaign, as well as joining the other 700 pupils from schools and colleges across the county in activities ranging from how to build using wattle and daub and to lay bricks.

As well as safety, the week is aimed at encouraging youngsters to consider a career in the building industry.

Around 90 children from Meadows visited the museum last week and another 80 were due to go from Sidemoor today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday). Other local schools included Millfields First and Finstall First from Bromsgrove, as well as nearby villages including Ombersley.

Sidemoor's Victorian building has no room to expand and will be replaced as part of the £60m PFI scheme on land off Perryfields Road, with access from Grayshott Close. Parkside Middle School and Meadows are to be rebuilt on land off Churchfields. Tenders for the work are to go out in August and building is due to start next year.